LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
DAVIS 


THE    MEN    WHO    MADE 
THE    NATION 


THE  MEN  WHO  MADE 
THE  NATION 

AN  OUTLINE  OF  UNITED  STATES  HISTORY 
FROM  1760  TO  1865 

BY 

EDWIN    ERLE   SPARKS,  PH.D. 


ILLUSTRATED  WITH  MANY  REPRODUCTIONS  OF  CONTEMPORARY 
PRINTS,    SKETCHES,  FACSIMILES,  ETC. 


gorfc 
THE   MACMILLAN    COMPANY 

LONDON:  MACMILLAN  &  CO.,  LTD. 
1904 

All  rights  reserved 


COPYRIGHT,  1900, 
BY  THE  MACMILLAN   COMPANY. 


Set  up  and  electrotyped.      Published  December,  1900.     Reprinted 
October,  1904. 


Nortoooti 

J.  S.  Cashing  &  Co.  —  Berwick  &  Smith  Co. 
Norwood,  Mass.,  U.S.A. 


PREFATORY    NOTE 

THIS  outline  of  United  States  History  is  based  upon 
these  hypotheses :  — 

That  the  unification  of  the  American  people  is  now 
sufficiently  accomplished  to  warrant  the  general  reader 
in  following  up  the  chief  events  which  have  overcome 
inherent  individualism  and  have  by  necessity  compelled 
cooperation. 

That  a  recital  of  the  events  in  the  nation's  career 
without  the  persons  connected  therewith  is  to  the  un 
trained  reader  an  empty  stage.  However  magnificently 
set,  it  is  lifeless  without  the  players.  The  making  of 
the  nation  is  the  story  of  the  men  who  made  it. 

That  at  any  given  period  of  affairs  one  man  will  be 
found  who  is  master  of  the  situation,  and  events  natu 
rally  group  themselves  about  him. 

That  the  preeminence  of  one  man  at  any  period  does 
not  detract  from  the  services  of  the  minor  characters, 
some  of  whom  may  become  leaders  subsequently. 

That  an  intensive  and  extensive  study  of  the  nation's 
history  can  be  best  secured  by  making  an  outline  inter 
esting  and  directive. 


vi  PREFATORY  NOTE 

That  amidst  the  confusing  multitude  of  details  in 
the  forming  of  a  national  character,  the  reader  can 
trace  the  slow,  but  steady,  evolution  of  a  comparatively 
harmonious  people  from  the  most  heterogeneous  and 
apparently  hopeless  elements.  The  process  of  recon 
ciling  the  inherited  prejudices  which  have  rent  the  Old 
World  is  not  yet  complete  in  the  New ;  but  the  stern 
hand  of  necessity  has  wrought  the  reluctant  material 
so  far  that  the  result  may  be  viewed  with  pride  by 
those  who  read  the  story. 

THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CHICAGO, 
December,  1900. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER   I 

PAGE 

Benjamin  Franklin,  the  Colonial  Agent  in  England          .         .         I 


CHAPTER   II 
Samuel  Adams,  the  Man  of  the  Town  Meeting         ...       47 

CHAPTER    III 
John  Adams,  the  Partisan  of  Independence     .         .         .         .79 

CHAPTER   IV 
Robert  Morris,  the  Financier  of  the  Revolution       .         .         .119 

CHAPTER   V 
Alexander  Hamilton,  the  Advocate  of  Stronger  Government   .     151 

CHAPTER   VI     . 
George  Washington,  the  First  President          .         .         .         .181 

CHAPTER  VII 
Thomas  Jefferson,  the  Exponent  of  Democracy       .         .         .     218 


viii  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  VIII 

PAGE 

Henry  Clay,  the  Father  of  Public  Improvements      .         .         .     225 

CHAPTER   IX 
Andrew  Jackson,  the  People's  President          ....     282 

CHAPTER   X 
Daniel  Webster,  the  Defender  of  the  Constitution  .        .        .318 

CHAPTER  XI 
Horace  Greeley,  the  Anti-slavery  Editor          ....     347 

CHAPTER   XII 
Abraham  Lincoln,  a  New  Type  of  American    ....     378 

INDEX 411 


JUft  published,  POOR  RICH47  MA^ACTC  for  th~ 
Y^ar  1,752.  Containing,  beficks  :  Matters,  a  parti 
cular  Account  of  the  Changes  the  Yt;  ;  :K-  in  former 
Ai»ej,'  with  the  flea  tuns  thereof ;  tic  iuf<  Act  of  Pariia- 
Hiffrtt  for  regulating  tlieConiiTiefiteaie.!  '  Caltri- 
dar,  priatea  at  large. 

ALSO, 

The    AMERICAN    COUNTRY  A  L  M  A  N  A  C  K} 
Ft.r  the  Year  17*2.     Bv  */" //a  Ms!  S    MOO  A'  F. 


'd  aw«,y  on  the   18  h  of  Jaft  month,  «mf  <>f    the    yard  of 

ANNOUNCEMENT  OF  POOR  RICHARD'S  ALMANAC  IN  FRANKLIN'S 
PENNSYLVANIA  GAZETTE 


THE    MEN    WHO    MADE 
THE    NATION 


THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

CHAPTER   I 

BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN,  THE  COLONIAL  AGENT  IN  ENGLAND 

REEDY  ISLAND,  7  at  night,  8  November,  1764. 
MY  DEAR  SALLY,  —  We  got  down  here  at  sunset,  having 
taken  in  more  live  stock  at  Newcastle,  with  some  other  things 
we  wanted.  Our  good  friends,  Mr.  Galloway,  Mr.  Wharton, 
and  Mr.  James,  came  with  me  in  the  ship  from  Chester  to 
Newcastle,  and  went  ashore  there.  It  was  kind  to  favor  me 
with  their  company  as  far  as  they  could.  The  affectionate 
leave  taken  of  me  by  so  many  friends  at  Chester  was  very 
endearing.  God  bless  them  and  all  Philadelphia.  .  .  . 

B.  FRANKLIN. 

BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN,  of  Philadelphia,  had  started  on 
his  third  voyage  to  England.  His  fruitless  errand 
under  the  supposed  patronage  of  Governor  Keith,  of 
Pennsylvania,  in  1724,  had  been  followed  in  1757  by  a 
mission  as  agent  of  the  people  of  Pennsylvania  in  their 
contest  with  the  heirs  of  William  Penn,  proprietors  of 
that  province.  After  five  years  of  service,  he  had  re 
turned,  and  was  now  sent  back  on  a  similar  errand, 
having  been  allowed  to  remain  but  two  years  at  home. 

On  the  first  of  these  visits  Franklin  was  an  unknown 
printer.  Before  he  saw  England  the  second  time,  Poor 
Richard's  quaint  sayings  in  Richard  Saunders'  Almanac 
had  made  its  printer-author  famous.  His  experiments 


2  THE  MEN"  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

in  the  realm  of  science  were  known  to  the  reading 
world.  His  complete  works  had  been  published  in 
London.  But  on  this  third  visit  he  was  destined  to 
enter  the  field  of  political  writings,  to  enlighten  England 
about  her  American  possessions,  and  to  assist,  quite 
unintentionally,  in  divesting  her  of  a  portion  of  these 
treasures. 

Much  information  could  not  be  expected  in  England 
concerning  these  million  and  a  half  colonists,  scattered 
in  little  groups  along  a  thousand  miles  of  seacoast. 
They  were  in  a  "new  world,"  surrounded  by  dense 
forests,  in  constant  danger  from  savages,  and  with  slight 
means  of  inter-communication.  Even  effective  coop 
eration  was  prevented  by  the  racial,  religious,  and  class 
differences,  which  they  brought  from  the  old  country 
and  transmitted  to  their  children.  Of  these  sources  of 
dissension,  sectarianism  would  naturally  be  the  most 
difficult  to  oyercome. 

The  "  Established  church  "  of  England  was  strongest 
in  Virginia.  It  was  under  the  bishop  of  London,  in 
accord  with  the  ecclesiastical  law ;  it  was  favored  by  the 
aristocratic  ruling  class;  it  had  its  glebes  and  parish 
houses  ;  the  salaries  of  its  clergy  were  arranged  by  law l 

1  In  1696,  the  annual  salary  of  a  clergyman  was  fixed  at  16,000  pounds 
of  tobacco ;  for  performing  a  marriage  ceremony,  400  pounds ;  for  a  fu 
neral  service,  200  pounds,  etc.  Variations  in  crops  and  quality  of  tobacco 
gave  rise  to  many  suits  at  law,  in  one  of  which  Patrick  Henry  gained  his 
first  prominence  as  an  agitator  by  denouncing  this  compulsory  church  sys 
tem.  See  Tyler's  "  Henry,"  p.  32.  An  original  account  of  this  "  Parson's 
Cause,"  as  well  as  original  material  on  nearly  all  points  in  American  his 
tory,  may  be  found  in  Hart's  "  American  History  told  by  Contemporaries." 
For  a  presentation  of  the  case  from  another  standpoint,  see  Meade's  "  Old 
Churches  and  Families  of  Virginia,"  I.,  219.  For  the  colonial  churches  in 
general,  see  Lodge's  "  History  of  the  American  Colonies." 


BENJAMIN"  FRANKLIN  3 

and  paid  largely  by  tithes  exacted  from  the  citizens. 
These  proud  churchmen  looked  down  with  a  kind  of  scorn 
on  the  "dissenters  "  in  New  England.  Crossing  the  ocean 
could  not  heal  the  breach  between  Cavalier  and  Round 
head.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Puritan  clergymen 
compared  the  severity  of  their  lives  with  those  of  the 
Virginia  clergy,  carousing  in  taverns,  attendants  upon 
horse-races  and  cock-fights,  and  ultimately  made  ame 
nable  to  the  law  for  drunkenness.  Many  of  the  Virginia 
rectors  were  exceptions,  and  lived  most  exemplary 
lives ;  but  others  were  sent  over  to  the  colonial  livings, 
their  salaries  assured  by  law,  and  themselves  thus  made 
independent  of  their  parishioners.  In  vain  the  Vir 
ginians  at  times  petitioned  for  the  appointment  of  an 
American  bishop  to  correct  these  "  wolves  in  sheep's 
clothing,"  who  "  rather  by  their  dissoluteness  destroy 
than  feed  their  flocks."  The  Established  church  was 
the  product  of  a  state  deaf  to  distant  colonies. 

The  first  people  of  Massachusetts  Bay  had  fled  to 
escape  this  state  church,  but  they  soon  evolved  a  church 
state,  membership  in  the  one  being  contingent  on  mem 
bership  in  the  other.  "  Casting  out  heretics  "  was  as  man 
datory  on  the  new  as  on  the  old  state,  and  persecution 
raged  in  both  sections.  If  Massachusetts  forbade  the 
ritual  of  the  Established  church,  Virginia  fined  Puritans 
who  preached  within  her  borders.  Each  persecuted  the 
Quaker,  or  "  broadbrim,"  as  John  Adams  called  him.1 
The  Baptist  also  suffered  in  both  North  and  South. 
Only  two  years  before  independence  was  declared,  five 

1  Whittier  describes  these  persecutions  in  the  third,  fourth,  and  fifth 
stanzas  of  "  The  Pastoral  Letter."  Thomas  Jefferson,  in  his  "  Notes  on 
Virginia,"  cites  the  statutes  of  that  colony  against  the  Quaker. 


4  THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

or  six  clergymen  were  in  close  jail  in  Virginia  for  pub 
lishing  their  doctrines,  and  James  Madison  was  out  of 
patience  with  this  "diabolical,  hell-conceived  principle 
of  persecution."  1 

In  New  York,  the  history  of  Peter  Stuyvesant  fining 
non-attendants  on  the  Dutch  Reformed  (or  Dutch  Cal- 
vinist)  church  was  repeated  by  Governor  Fletcher, 
under  English  rule,  arranging  a  tax  for  building  Estab 
lished  churches  and  paying  their  clergymen.  The  strug 
gle  in  that  colony  between  this  state  church  and  the 
dissenters,  chiefly  Presbyterians,  continued  as  a  dis 
turbing  element  far  into  the  Revolution.  The  first  fifty 
years  of  the  history  of  South  Carolina  witnessed  a  con 
stant  struggle  between  the  Established  churchmen  and 
the  Scotch  Presbyterians,  during  which  the  former  suc 
ceeded  in  barring,  for  a  time,  the  latter  from  seats  in 
the  provincial  Assembly.  The  union  of  church  and 
state  never  held  in  Pennsylvania,  where  the  population 
was  so  divided  among  Quakers,  Presbyterians,  and  the 
numerous  sects  of  the  Germans. 

Since  the  ruling  element  of  whatever  sect  came 
from  England,  the  Roman  Catholic  could  not  expect 
toleration.  Until  the  time  of  the  Revolution,  New  York 
prohibited  the  exercise  of  office  by  priest  or  Jesuit  on 
penalty  of  perpetual  imprisonment,  an  attempt  to  es 
cape  being  punishable  by  death.  Maryland,  although 
Roman  Catholic  by  foundation  and  by  the  faith  of  a 
majority  of  her  citizens,  was  given  a  Protestant  church 
system  in  1692?  Virginia  was  especially  severe  toward 


1  Gay's  "Madison,"  p.  13. 

2  See  Rowland's  "  Charles  Carroll  of  Carrollton,"  Vol.  I.,  pp.  4-33. 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN  5 

Roman    Catholics,    and   even    Rhode    Island    at   times 
refused  them  the  right  of  the  franchise. 

As  migration  to  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut  in 
creased,  tremendous  pressure  for  citizenship  was  brought 
to  bear  on  the  church  state  and  the  "  half-way  covenant  " 
was  agreed  upon.  It  granted  church  membership  and 
citizenship  privileges  without  the  prerequisites  of  repent 
ance  and  conversion.  Many  clergymen  refused  to  abide 
by  it,  and  Jonathan  Edwards  was  dismissed  from  his 
pastorate  at  Northampton,  Massachusetts,  after  twenty- 
four  years  of  service.  A  little  later,  tithes  were  per 
mitted  to  be  paid  to  the  Established  churches  in  Massa 
chusetts.  Yet  toleration  made  such  slow  progress 
that  so  late  as  1760  in  that  colony  there  were  306 
Congregational  churches  and  but  59  of  all  other  denomi 
nations,  while  the  membership  was  as  five  to  one.  The 
state  church  in  Georgia  gradually  fell  into  such  ill  repute 
that  John  Wesley,  .in  1736,  estimated  the  dissenters  at 
one-third  the  entire  population,  and  in  Virginia  the 
proportion  was  thought  to  be  one-half.  Hence  in  the 
southern  colonies  the  Revolution  was  accompanied,  if 
not  engendered,  by  a  struggle  for  religious  freedom.1 
Elsewhere  the  fear  of  an  American  bishop  and  an 
established  church  being  foisted  on  the  people  became 
one  of  the  standing  complaints  against  England  in  the 
rising  tide  of  the  Revolution.2  The  sending  officially 

1  Jefferson  has  claimed  much  credit  for  the  divorce  of  church  and  state 
in  Virginia.     Morse's  "  Jefferson,"  p.  45.     Madison  is  entitled  to  a  share. 
Gay's  "  Madison,"  pp.  66-70. 

2  One  of  the  English  caricatures  shows  the  reception  which  would  be 
accorded  to  a  bishop  in  America.     The  "  Annual  Register  "  (London)  for 
1765,  p.  108,  contains  Bishop  Butler's  plan  for  an  American  episcopacy. 
Franklin  wrote  an  essay  on  Toleration  in  Old  and  New  England.     See  his 


PROBABLE  RECEPTION  OF  AN  AMERICAN  BISHOP 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN  7 

of  a  Roman  Catholic  bishop  to  the  French  in  Canada 
in  1766  seemed  to  give  some  foundation  to  this  fear. 

With  these  narrow  contests  and  this  persecution  in  a 
new  world  Franklin  had  little  sympathy.  He  said: 
"When  religious  people  quarrel  about  religion,  or 
hungry  people  about  their  victuals,  it  looks  as  if  they 
had  not  much  of  either  among  them."1 

He  was  much  more  concerned  about  the  race  differ 
ences,  and  the  probable  length  of  time  necessary  to 
evolve  a  harmonious  people  from  this  mass  of  inherited 
prejudices.  He  regretted  especially  the  non-assimilation 
of  the  Germans  in  Pennsylvania.  "  Few  of  their  chil 
dren  know  English.  They  import  many  books  from 
Germany;  and  of  the  six  printing  offices  in  the  prov 
ince,  two  are  entirely  German,  two  half  German  and 
half  English,  and  but  two  entirely  English."  Adver 
tisements  in  the  Philadelphia  newspapers  were  in  both 
English  and  German,  as  were  the  street  signs.  Legal 
papers  were  allowed  to  be  written  in  either  language, 
and  Franklin  sarcastically  predicted  that  it  would  be 
necessary  in  time  to  have  interpreters  in  the  state  Assem 
bly  to  tell  the  one  half  what  the  other  half  said.  Other 
writers  testified  to  the  superstition  of  the  lower  class  of 
these  Germans :  that  one  might  see  frequently  a  bag  of 
salt  tied  to  a  horse's  mane  to  keep  the  witches  away. 
A  petty  warfare  went  on  between  them  and  the  Scotch. 
Galloway  once  wrote  to  Franklin  that  the  Presby 
terians  of  Lancaster  county  objected  to  the  election  of 

"Works,"  Sparks's  Edition,  Vol.  II.,  p.  1 1 2,  Also  see  "Works  of  John 
Adams,"  Vol.  X.,  p.  185. 

1  The  quotations  from  Franklin  in  this  chapter  are  taken  from  various 
places  in  Jared  Sparks's  "  Franklin's  Works  "  in  ten  volumes. 


8      THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

a  candidate  for  sheriff  because  he  had  recently  come 
from  Germany.  When  he  attempted  to  serve  process, 
they  assaulted  him,  cut  off  the  ears  of  his  horse,  and 
compelled  him  to  flee  for  his  life,  yet  they  went  un 
punished.  At  all  times  a  certain  antipathy  was  shown 
by  the  Pennsylvania  Quakers  toward  the  Presbyterians, 
whom  they  associated  with  the  persecuting  Congrega- 
tionalists  in  New  England.  The  Quakers  wished  to  treat 
the  Indians  kindly ;  the  Scotch  and  Scotch-Irish  wished 
to  discipline  them.  The  "  Paxton  (Paxtang)  war  "  be 
tween  these  factions  threatened  to  add  white  to  Indian 
bloodshed  until  Franklin  assumed  a  dictatorship,  and 
put  an  end  to  it  whilst  the  terrified  English  governor 
lay  cowering  in  Franklin's  house. 

Germans  were  introduced  also  into  New  York 
through  Governor  Fletcher,  but  comparatively  few 
settled  in  that  colony.1  Yet  it  had  fully  as  discordant 
an  element  in  the  Netherlanders,  or  Dutch,  along  the 
Hudson,  who  had  been  brought  under  English  control 
in  1664.  Kalm2  pronounced  them  "  unhospitable,  and 
never  disposed  to  oblige  beyond  the  prospect  of  interest "  ; 
and,  since  they  regarded  the  New  Englanders  as  influen 
tial  in  their  subjugation,  "  their  first  and  greatest  malice 
is  toward  them;  while  the  difference  in  their  natural 
disposition  and  the  peculiarities  in  the  manners  and 


1  They  were  commonly  called  "  Dutch,"  possibly  because  they  were  of 
Teutonic  blood,  although  they  came  from  the  Rhine  district  of  Germany 
and  not  from  the  Netherlands.     By   contact  with  the  English  language, 
the  present  mixture  known  as  "  Pennsylvania  Dutch  "  has  arisen.     The 
Germans  have  made  an  excellent  although  conservative  contribution  to  the 
citizenship  of  Pennsylvania. 

2  Peter  Kalm,  the  Swedish  botanist,  made  observations  on  the  people 
as  well  as  the  flora  of  North  America  during  his  visit  in  1748. 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN  9 

customs  of  both  parties  render  them  obnoxious  each  to 
the  other,  and  afford  an  infinite  fund  to  a  genius  for 
the  malevolent  burlesque."  In  New  Jersey,  Kalm  found 
"  Low  Dutch,  Germans,  English,  Scotch,  Irish,  and  New 
Englanders,  whose  national  manners,  customs,  and  char 
acter  are  still  preserved,  especially  among  the  lower 
classes  of  people,  who  have  little  intercourse  among  any 
but  those  of  their  own  nation."  But  not  alone  race  ani 
mosity  produced  isolation  and  decentralization.  If  inte 
rior  migration  separated  friends  and  neighbors,  sectional 
feeling  immediately  sprang  up.  When  the  southward 
movement  peopled  the  valleys  of  western  Virginia  and 
North  Carolina  with  Pennsylvanians,1  the  Colonial 
Magazine  of  Philadelphia  pronounced  the  state  a  sieve, 
which  kept  back  the  stamina  of  industry  and  virtue,  but 
allowed  a  free  passage  to  those  accustomed  to  vice  and 
violence. 

Added  to  these  discordant  race  elements  was  the 
generally  undesirable  class  known  as  "indented  ser 
vants."  Many  of  them  had  been  redeemed  from  Eng 
lish,  Scotch,  and  German  prisons ;  others  belonged  to 
the  improvident  class,  and  had  become  indebted  for 
their  passage-money;  only  a  few  would  make  good 
citizens.  The  act  under  which  they  were  sent  was 
entitled  "  For  the  better  peopling  His  Majesty's  Planta 
tions."  They  frequently  escaped  to  other  colonies  and 
the  frontier,  committing  crimes,  and  causing  much  ex 
pense  in  returning  them  to  those  to  whom  they  had 

1  Morse's  Geography  says  that  of  the  3500  militiamen  in  the  Revolu 
tionary  War  from  Orange  County,  North  Carolina,  every  one  had  migrated 
from  Pennsylvania.  The  signers  of  the  Mecklenburg  "declaration  of 
independence  "  were  nearly  all  Scotch  or  their  descendants  who  had  come 
from  colonies  farther  north. 


IO  THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

been  bound.1  They  caused  annoyance  to  neighboring 
colonies  and  thus  added  to  the  feeling  already  wrought 
to  a  high  pitch  by  the  numerous  boundary  disputes. 

_„    ;  SIMON  SHURLOCK:: 

*v.  IK  All  mafters  of  vefjcls,  and  others,  are  forbid  to 
carry  them,  or  either  of  iJfeip,  away,  as  the/  fhall  anfwe^ 
it  at  their  peril.  ^ 

Ran  away,  on  the  firft  of    a 

Maren  inft,  fiouj  the  fubfcriber,  on  Ti-      j 
nicum  Ifland,  in  Chefter  county,  an  hlfh 
fervant  lad,  about  16  year*  old,  named 
Jofeph  Mullin,    about  five  feet  high, 
fliort  brown  hair,  black  eye»,  thin  face, 
down  .look,  and  has  but  very  little  to 
fay  $  by  hit  behaviour  he  may  be  taken       i 
for  a  fool—'had  on  when  he  went  away,  an  old  blanket  coat, 
and  homefpun  brown  cloth  jacket,  with  a  red  lining,  green 
troufers,  with  patches  on  the  knees,   white  yarn  ftockings,      ^ 
half  worn  fiioes,  with  firings   in  them,  and  an  old  flopped      jf 
hat.     Whoever  will   bring  him  home,  fhall  receive  T<w(*tj 
Shillings  reward,  and  all  reafojj able  charges  paid,  by  n 

Jofeph  Penrofc.        t 
RUN  away  from  the  fub-    a 

fcriber,  in  SafTafras  Neck,  Cecil  Coun 
ty,  Maryland,  a   fejrvant  man   named      i 
Jofeph  Edwards.   Me  was  boi  n  in  Eng-      \ 
land,  prettndl  to  have  been  bred  up  Ifo 
the  care  of  horfef,  and  to  underltand  the 
management  and  breaking  of  colts,  is  a 
talkative   impertinent  feilow,   about  10 
ll  fet.    fwqrthy   coni ol ejriv»  -»-   * 

When  the  charters  were  first  issued  to  various  com 
panies  for  planting  colonies  in  the  new  world,  no  sur- 

1  In  Franklin's  Pennsylvania  Gazette  of  Nov.   I,    1750,  the  following 
advertisement  appears  under  the  heading  of  "  Runaway  Servant  "  : 

"  Also  another  servant  man,  named  William  Stewart,  of  a  middle  size, 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN  !  r 

veys  had  been  made  and  parallels  of  latitude  were 
frequently  used  for  boundaries.  The  common  practice 
was  to  grant  all  the  seacoast  between  certain  parallels, 
extending  "  up  into  the  land  from  sea  to  sea,  west  and 
northwest,"  or  "  towards  the  South  Sea  (Pacific  ocean) 
or  westward."  But  many  colonizing  schemes  failed; 
others  took  their  places ;  and,  since  every  encourage 
ment  was  offered,  the  same  land  was  given  in  subsequent 
grants  until  in  some  places  the  land  was  said  to  be 
covered  five  deep  with  these  claims.1 

The  charter  of  Virginia,  the  earliest,  was  naturally  the 
most  loosely  drawn,  and  that  colony  construed  "  up  into 
the  Land  throughout  from  Sea  to  Sea,  West  and  North 
west"  to  entitle  her  to  all  land  lying  west  of  the  other 
colonies  and  north  of  her  southern  boundary.  But  such 
interpretation  was  disputed  by  Massachusetts,  whose 
land  extended  "throughout  the  Mayne  Landes  there 
from  the  Atlantick  and  Westerne  Sea  and  Ocean  on  the 
East  Parte  to  the  South  Sea  on  the  West  Parte,"  and  by 
Connecticut,  which  had  been  granted  all  lands  "  as  the 
Line  of  the  Massachusetts  Colony  .  .  .  from  the  said 
Narraganset  Bay  on  the  East,  to  the  South  Sea  on  the 

short  brown  hair,  wore  a  cap,  with  a  scar  on  one  of  his  cheeks :  Had 
on  a  blue  stuff  coat,  with  a  red  plush  cape,  lined  with  dark  colour'd  linnen, 
a  brown  jacket  lined  with  the  same,  metal  buttons,  breeches  much  the 
same,  shoes  and  stockings,  about  1 6  or  17  years  of  age.  Whoever  appre 
hends  the  said  servants,  and  secures  them,  so  as  their  master  may  have 
them  again,  shall  have  Twenty  Shillings  for  each,  and  reasonable  charges, 
paid  by  me.  ROBERT  ADAMS." 

In  the  same  paper  rewards  were  offered  for  twenty-one  runaway  ser 
vants,  mostly  Irish  and  English.  One  negro  was  among  the  number,  but 
he  had  run  away  with  a  white  servant. 

1  These  charters  may  be  found  in  Poore's  "  Constitutions  and  Charters." 
A  resume  of  the  boundary  disputes  may  be  found  in  Donaldson's  "  Public 
Domain,"  issued  as  House  Exec.  Doc.  47,  part  4,  46th  Cong.,  3d  Sess. 


12     THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

West  Part."  New  York  also  resisted  Virginia's  preten 
sions  to  the  western  land  on  the  ground  of  a  treaty  with 
the  Six  Nations  which  gave  to  that  province  all  the  land 
lying  between  the  sources  of  the  Great  Lakes  and  the 
Cumberland  Mountains.  But  New  York  was  involved  in 
more  pressing  difficulties  on  her  eastern  side  because  of 
the  uncertain  outlines  of  the  charter  given  to  the  Duke 
of  York.  In  the  ensuing  controversies,  Ethan  Allen 
and  his  Green  Mountain  Boys  decided  the  question  so 
far  as  a  portion  of  the  land  was  concerned  by  erecting 
an  independent  state ;  but  they  caused  some  alarm  dur 
ing  the  revolution  lest  they  might  ally  themselves  with 
Canada.1  Usually  when  concerted  action  was  needed, 
these  conflicts  broke  out  afresh. 

The  two  Carolinas  clashed  over  their  common  boun 
dary  line.  Georgia  was  almost  entirely  carved  out  of 
South  Carolina  territory,  and  so  engendered  a  quarrel 
which  was  not  settled  until  the  Revolutionary  war. 

Regardless  of  protests,  Maryland  had  been  given  land 
claimed  by  Virginia,  extending  on  the  north  to  the  4Oth 
degree  of  latitude  and  on  the  east  to  the  Atlantic.  But, 
in  turn,  the  grant  given  to  William  Penn  deprived 
Maryland  of  a  peninsula  now  the  state  of  Delaware. 

1  When  Ethan  Allen  captured  Ticonderoga  he  was  still  an  outlaw  with 
a  price  upon  his  head  by  proclamation  of  the  royal  governor  of  New  York. 
The  contest  between  the  Green  Mountain  Boys  and  New  York  was  really 
connected  with  the  struggle  for  liberty.  The  epitaph  of  one  of  Allen's 
associates  reads : 

"  Here  William  French  his  Body   lies 
For  Murder  his  blood  for  Vengeance  cries 
King  Georg  the  third  his  Tory  crew 
tha  with  a  bawl  his  head  Shot  threw 
For  liberty  and  his  Countrys  Good 
he  Lost         his  Life  his  Dearest  blood  " 

—  Moore's  "  Memoir  of  Colonel  Ethan  Allen,"  p.  86. 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN  13 

Penn  also  claimed  that  "the  4Oth  degree"  of  north  lati 
tude  meant  to  begin  at  the  39th,  and  therefore  demanded 
a  strip  of  land  one  degree  wide  the  entire  length  of 
Maryland,  and  including  the  desirable  site  of  the  city  of 
Philadelphia.  The  dispute  ran  for  half  a  century,  until 
a  compromise  was  effected  and  two  competent  surveyors, 
Charles  Mason  and  Jeremiah  Dixon,  were  brought  from 
England  to  run  the  line  between  the  two  provinces 
(1763-1767).  Since  it  so  happened  at  a  later  time  that 
Pennsylvania  and  all  states  north  found  slavery  unprofit 
able  and  forbade  it,  whilst  Maryland  and  all  states  south 
found  it  profitable  and  fostered  it,  the  Mason  and  Dixon 
line  became,  at  a  later  period,  the  great  dividing  line 
between  slavery  and  freedom. 

Penn's  charter  located  the  western  limit  of  Pennsyl 
vania  five  degrees  (about  three  hundred  miles)  from  the 
eastern  line  —  the  Delaware  river;  but  upon  the  decision 
whether  the  eastern  or  western  bend  of  the  Delaware 
should  be  taken  as  a  starting  point  in  measuring  would 
depend  whether  the  junction  of  the  rivers  forming  the 
Ohio  belonged  to  Pennsylvania  or  Virginia.  The  con 
tention  caused  arrests,  and  even  bloodshed,  and  was 
raging  furiously  when  the  oncoming  Revolution  was 
demanding  harmony  and  peace.  Nor  was  Penn  more 
fortunate  in  his  northern  boundary.  In  his  grant  of 
1664  he  had  secured  a  quit-claim  from  the  Duke  of 
York,  but  Connecticut,  lapsing  her  claim  to  the  territory 
of  present  New  York,  resumed  it  beyond  the  Delaware, 
and  offered  land  for  sale  in  a  strip  of  northern  Penn 
sylvania,  almost  half  that  province.  Settlers  who  pur 
chased  land  from  Pennsylvania  in  "Wyoming"  or 
"  Susquehanna,"  as  this  disputed  portion  was  called, 


14  THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

found  other  settlers  on  the  same  tract  with  titles  issued 
by  Connecticut.  Lawsuits,  ejectments,  and  battles 
marked  this  controversy,  continuing  even  after  the 
Revolution,  although  Pennsylvania  was  given  the  land  in 
1782. 

In  the  light  of  these  conflicts  one  may  appreciate  the 
belief  of  England  that  they  would  remain  an  insur 
mountable  barrier  to  any  colonial  union.  A  member  of 
the  Commons  said  in  debate :  "The  colonists  have, been 
obliged  to  recur  very  frequently  to  the  jurisdiction  here 
to  settle  the  disputes  among  their  own  governments. 
New  Hampshire  and  Connecticut  have  been  in  blood 
about  their  differences ;  Virginia  and  Maryland  rose  in 
arms  against  each  other."  The  belief  was  common  that 
only  the  restraining  hand  of  the  mother  country  pre 
vented  a  general  civil  war.  England  saw  another  dis 
turbing  element  in  the  commercial  competition.  When 
New  York  endeavored  to  secure  a  monopoly  of  the 
trade  with  the  Six  Nations,  neighboring  colonies  gave  a 
grudging  assistance,  and  Virginia  tried  a  counter  treaty. 
Commercial  jealousy  was  a  moving  cause  of  the  failure 
of  the  colonies  to  support  each  other  properly  in  the 
Indian  wars,  and  this  very  failure  cut  still  deeper  the 
lines  of  ill  feeling.  New  York  hoped  in  time,  with 
her  superior  harbor,  to  surpass  the  larger  city  of  Phila 
delphia  and  also  to  gain  some  of  the  trade  which  entered 
Narragansett  and  Massachusetts  bays.  Samuel  Rhoads 
sounded  the  alarm  of  Philadelphia,  and  suggested  canals 
as  the  only  means  of  keeping  the  interior  trade  from 
"Baltimore  Towne."1  England  simply  took  advantage 

1  In  a  letter  to  Franklin.     Sparks's  "  Franklin,"  Vol.  VII.,  p.  519. 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN  15 

of  this  rivalry  when  she  closed  the  port  of  Boston  in  the 
Revolution. 

A  few  of  the  causes  have  been  given  which  justified 
Dr.  Joseph  Warren  in  saying  that  until  the  time  of  the 
Stamp  Act  (1765)  "the  colonies  were  ever  at  variance 
and  foolishly  jealous  of  each  other."  Franklin  thought 
this  jealousy  so  strong  that  although  a  common  defence 
had  long  been  felt  necessary,  they  could  not  form  one 
among  themselves  nor  agree  to  ask  the  mother  country 
to  establish  one.  He  found  further  barriers  in  "differ 
ent  governors,  different  forms  of  government,  different 
laws,  different  interests,  and  some  of  them  different 
religious  persuasions  and  different  manners."1  He  had 
frequent  experience  with  these  local  differences.  Small 
wonder  that  when  he  read  the  eulogy  of  Voltaire  on 
the  peaceful  city  of  the  Quakers  where  "  Discord  and 
Controversy  are  unknown,"  he  should  have  pronounced 
it  fortunate  that  while  they  sat  for  their  portrait  to  the 
able  painter,  he  viewed  them  at  such  a  favorable  dis 
tance  ;  since  they  were  "  torn  by  faction,  religious  and 
civil." 

Against  this  multitude  of  decentralizing  tendencies 
there  was  the  offset  of  a  common  danger,  common  pri 
vations,  and  the  feeling  of  a  "  destiny "  for  this  new 
world  untainted  by  the  ills  of  decaying  old  world  gov 
ernment.  The  English  formed  the  ruling  class  in  each 
colony  and  so  became  a  centralizing  element.  They 
spoke  a  common  tongue,  inherited  similar  ideas  and 
tendencies,  and  were  united  in  a  common  voluntary 
exile  from  "home."  Legislative  measures  were  sent 

1  Sparks's  "Franklin,"  Vol.  IV.,  p.  41. 


Vith 


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I-' or     L  O  N   :  ., 

Th:   S'N  o  w 
T     R     Y     T    O    N 

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B  A  R  ]>  A  DOS    dire&ljr, 

The   Brigandne 
Rebecca  and   ji 
Daniel  England 
Commander  ; 

Lying    at    Morrii 
wharff,  and  has  good  accom 
modations  for  paiTengers, 

?t  ar.J         For  freight  or  paffage,  apply  to  James  Weft,  or  faid 

lanncr,     commander  on  board.  4 

fith  t<ie      ..-- 


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A-  '•  foreftt  Wha:rT,  orpofite  Mr.  Hazard'*, 

(~A  H  (J  I  C'E  C';au-t  in  Bottlti  :    and  .1  Variety  of  Eurupcan  ^^ 
^J.  _^____ M 

~For~I,~O~lv:    D     O     Ar, 
The   S  H  i  p 
WILLIAMi 

John  Mitchell,  Mailer  j 

Oz?(f  /Av^"  o/  ler  Landing  is  al 
ready  engaged,  and  fie  cwtil- 
fail  ~^'ith  all  convenient  Sptld* 

_  ^ For    F,- fight    or  Paj/age,    ap-     y 

ply  fa  jo  H  M  -  .->  M  i  T  H  ,   ABEL  JAMES,   or  fa'id  Majlgr.^^ 

^~~  -  — wyS**-  -  -**  -  - »  u,«-,».  h.M,r/-. .  .^-  -u—- -«— ^^^^ 
ADVERTISEMENTS  FROM  FRANKLIN'S  PENNSYLVANIA  GAZETTE 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN  ij 

"  home  "  for  approval  or  rejection  by  the  king.  Frank 
lin  spoke  of  being  "ordered  home"  and  testified  that 
natives  of  Britain  in  the  colonies  "  were  always  treated 
with  a  particular  regard;  to  be  an  Old-England 
man  was,  of  itself,  a  character  of  some  respect,  and 
gave  a  kind  of  rank  among  us."1  It  is  one  of  the 
strange  inconsistencies  in  the  evolution  of  the  nation 
that  the  treatment  received  from  this  beloved  mother 
country  was  the  great  agency  which  finally  overcame 
the  many  discordant  elements  and  prepared  the  way 
for  concerted  action. 

To  show  Franklin's  appreciation  of  these  obstacles  to 
union  one  need  only  examine  the  efforts  he  made  to 
remove  them  in  a  peaceful  way.  In  1744,  during  the 
French-Indian  wars,  a  Spanish  privateer  sailed  up  the 
Delaware,  plundering  plantations,  and  threatening  Phil 
adelphia.  The  city  was  defenceless  owing  to  the  un 
willingness  of  the  Quaker  element  in  the  Assembly  to 
vote  money  for  warlike  purposes.2  Franklin  took 
advantage  of  the  alarm  to  plead  for  a  defensive  union 
of  the  city  and  province,  wrote  a  pamphlet  on  the  sub 
ject,  and  in  1747  organized  near  ten  thousand  armed 
"  Associators,"  who  accomplished  thus  by  private  means 
what  had  always  been  thwarted  in  the  Assembly.  De 
clining  the  honor  of  a  colonelcy  in  the  Philadelphia 

1  The  preeminence  of  the  English  element  in  early  America  is  shown 
in  the  present  forms  of  local  and  general  government,  laws,  and  "  insti 
tutions." 

2  In  his  "  Autobiography,"  Franklin,  who  saw  the  good  intention  beneath 
the  apparently  obstinate  nature  of  the  Quakers,  relates  with  much  relish 
stories  of  their  voting  to  buy  gunpowder  under  the  guise  of  "  grain,"  and 
his  suggesting  that  they  buy  cannon  under  the  pretence  of  a  "  fire-engine." 
Sparks's  "Franklin,"  Vol.  I.,  p.  154. 

C 


1 8     THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

Associators,  because  he  lacked  military  training,  Frank 
lin  became  a  common  soldier  and  stood  guard  on  the 
temporary  fortifications  which  had  been  hastily  erected 
on  the  river  below  the  city. 

When  the  women  of  Philadelphia  presented  flags  to 
the  Associators,  Franklin  supplied  the  mottoes  which 
were  painted  on  them.  In  his  newspaper,  the  Penn 
sylvania  Gazette,  he  advocated  a  more  extended  union 
of  the  middle  provinces  against  the  French,  and  closed 
the  article  with  a  rude  cut  of  a  snake  in  thirteen 
separate  joints,  with  the  suggestive  motto  "Join  or 
die ! " 

In  1754,  he  attended  a  meeting  of  commissioners  from 
seven  states  held  at  Albany,  New  York,  for  the  purpose 
of  treating  with  the  Indians.  He  suggested  a  perma 
nent  union  for  such  purposes,  and,  of  the  several  plans 
suggested  looking  to  that  end,  his  was  adopted.  But 
nothing  came  of  it.  He  said  the  American  assemblies 
thought  it  had  too  much  (kingly)  prerogative,  and  in 
England  it  was  considered  too  democratic.  From  that 
country  came  a  counter  proposition  that  the  money 
needed  for  defence  should  be  raised  through  a  tax 
levied  by  Parliament ;  but  Franklin  replied  that  being 
without  representation  in  Parliament  the  colonists  could 
not  be  taxed  by  that  body.1 

Here  the  matter  rested  until  brought  to  a  test  by  the 
appearance  on  the  throne  in  1760  of  George  III.,  the 

1  Numerous  instances  attest  that  this  was  no  new  position  for  many 
of  the  colonies.  As  early  as  1670,  the  members  of  the  Massachusetts 
Court  refused  to  address  Parliament  concerning  a  grievance  lest  they 
should  thus  admit  some  power  of  that  body  over  them.  The  "  Diary  "  of 
John  Evelyn,  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Trade  and  Plantations,  mentions 
the  plans  considered  in  1671  for  securing  the  dependency  of  New  England. 


BENJAMIN-  FRANKLIN  19 

last  king  of  England  who  attempted  to  control  the  poli 
tics  of  the  country.  Endowed  with  a  headstrong  nature, 
filled  with  exalted  opinions  of  the  king's  power  and  pre 
rogative,  he  willingly  followed  the  advice  of  his  mother 
that  he  indeed  should  be  king ;  that  he  should  be  unin 
fluenced  by  the  old  Whig  families  or  the  Tory  party. 
He  determined,  therefore,  to  build  up  a  party  for  him 
self,  although  in  so  doing  he  was  obliged  to  meet  parlia 
mentary  corruption  with  corruption ;  to  oppose  needed 
reforms ;  to  listen  to  unfortunate  schemes ;  and  to  gain 
partisans  by  pensions  and  titles. 

The  unpopularity  of  the  Peace  of  Paris  in  1763,  which 
ended  the  struggle  for  the  possession  of  the  Mississippi 
valley  and  drove  the  French  from  the  continent  of 
North  America,  produced  a  crisis  in  English  politics 
which  gave  the  new  king  opportunity  of  testing  his 
strength  if  he  could  but  find  cabinet  officials  sufficiently 
subservient.  One  man  had  long  been  fitting  himself 
for  such  an  opportunity.  George  Grenville,  brother-in- 
law  to  Pitt,  had  risen  rapidly  from  one  government  post 
to  another  through  a  rare  courage,  business  ability,  and 
persistence,  although  devoid  of  that  tact  and  judgment 
which  should  characterize  the  successful  statesman. 
Showing  no  fixed  connection  with  any  party  and  appar 
ently  no  great  capacity  beyond  official  routine,  he  seemed 
an  ideal  candidate  for  the  purposes  of  the  king,  and  was 
invested  with  the  dual  office  of  First  Lord  of  the  Treas 
ury  and  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer.  He  brought  to 
his  position  a  knowledge  of  colonial  affairs  and  an  in 
dustry  which  spoke  well  for  his  conscientiousness,  but 
augured  ill  for  the  peace  of  the  colonies.  The  war 
just  closed  had  added  ^63,000,000  to  the  national 


20  THE  MEN'  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

debt,1  and  this  grave  situation  gave  Grenville  an  oppor 
tunity  of  showing  his  skill. 

Although  Franklin  claimed  on  behalf  of  the  colonists 
that  the  war  had  begun  in  the  north  over  the  boundary 
between  Canada  and  Nova  Scotia  and  in  the  west  over 
the  French  trading  with  the  Indians  —  two  questions  in 
which  the  remaining  colonies  had  no  direct  interest 
—  nevertheless  Grenville  thought  America  as  a  whole 
should  be  made  to  contribute  toward  the  payment  of 
this  war  debt.  The  trade  regulations  already  existing 
might  bring  in  sufficient  revenue  if  they  could  be 
enforced  and  the  extensive  system  of  smuggling  be 
stopped. 

"The  government"  is  to  the  masses  an  undefined, 
shadowy  thing,  incapable  of  suffering  and  of  reciprocity, 
and  with  rights  protected  by  political,  and  not  by  moral, 
laws.  A  wrong  against  the  government  carries  no 
moral  punishment ;  it  need  only  escape  the  political 
punishment  attached.  A  feeling  thus  common  to  man 
kind  held  especially  strong  among  the  American  colo 
nists.  They  were  separated  by  six  weeks  of  travel  from 
the  seat  of  authority ;  punishment  was  likely  to  fail  from 
the  vicissitudes  of  communication ;  many  of  the  chief 
customs  officers  resided  habitually  in  England ;  custom 
house  officials  were  appointed  and  paid  directly  by  the 
crown;  persons  accused  of  violations  of  custom  laws 
were  tried  by  admiralty  court  and  often  without  a  jury. 
Quite  easily  the  colonists  came  to  consider  these  offi- 

1  Mulhall's  "  Statistics,"  p.  262.  Adam  Smith  ("Wealth  of  Nations," 
Bk.  IV.,  Ch.  VII.)  estimated  the  increase  at  more  than  ^90,000,000,  but 
this  included  the  additional  land  tax  and  sums  borrowed  from  the  sinking 
fund.  Grenville  placed  the  increase  at  over  ^"70,000,000.  The  total  na 
tional  debt  of  Great  Britain  at  this  time  was  ^147,000,000. 


BENJAMIN-  FRANKLIN  2I 

cials  as  hirelings,  to  deceive  whom  was  a  credit;  as 
easily,  their  courts  became  sources  of  oppression  to  be 
evaded  by  any  means.  Thus  the  colonists  readily  grew 
into  the  habit  of  smuggling,  invited  by  the  thousand 
miles  of  coast,  and  despite  the  efforts  of  the  customs 
guards.  It  was  estimated  that  of  some  articles,  tea, 
for  instance,  not  one  pound  in  ten  consumed  in  the 
colonies  paid  duty.  The  serenity  with  which  the  people 
viewed  these  evasions  of  the  law  furnishes  a  fresh  illus 
tration  of  the  difficulty  of  enforcing  any  measure  beyond 
the  disposition  of  the  people  to  obey  it. 

As  an  aid  to  the  revenue  officers  in  attempting  to 
execute  their  unpleasant  duty,  an  act  of  Charles  II. 
was  declared  to  be  applicable,  authorizing  the  use  of 
"writs  of  assistance"  in  searching  for  smuggled  goods. 
These  differed  from  the  ordinary  search-warrants  in  not 
specifying  the  house  to  be  searched,  and  need  not  be 
returned  for  an  accounting  to  the  court  from  which 
they  were  issued.  The  searcher  could  also  demand 
the  assistance  of  any  one  in  his  odious  task.  One  of 
the  inherited  rights  claimed  by  the  colonists  was  that 
every  man's  house  was  his  castle  as  long  as  he  remained 
peacefully  within ;  hence  James  Otis,  the  Massachusetts 
lawyer,  claimed  that  the  writs  of  assistance  were  gen 
eral,  antiquated,  and  even  illegal  in  the  colonies. 

Notwithstanding  such  aids  to  the  officers,  so  ex 
tensive  was  the  smuggling  that  for  thirty  years  it 
had  cost  annually  over  ,£7000  to  collect  less  than 
.£3000  revenue  from  America.  In  vain  were  the 
officers  of  men-of-war  along  the  coast  given  power 
of  revenue  officers.  Being  untrained  to  such  service, 
they  made  costly  blunders,  and  added  little  to  the 


22  THE  MEN"  IV HO  MADE  THE  NATION 

receipts.  As  a  further  aid,  Grenville  decided  to  main 
tain  a  standing  army  in  America,  and  a  pretext  was 
easily  found  in  the  Indian  rising  just  after  the  war  had 
closed.  Franklin  saw  the  hollowness  of  this  pretext. 
He  had  heard  General  Braddock  boast,  "  These  savages 
may  indeed  be  a  formidable  enemy  to  your  raw  Ameri 
can  militia,  but  upon  the  king's  troops  and  discipline, 
sir,  it  is  impossible  they  should  make  any  headway."1 
Braddock's  fearful  experience  later  had  proven  the 
inefficiency  of  the  regulars  as  a  protection  against  the 
Indians.  The  provinces  could  take  care  of  themselves 
without  the  aid  of  the  twenty  regiments  which  Grenville 
proposed  to  put  over  them.  On  the  effective  Bouquet 
expedition,  there  had  been  but  300  regulars  to  over  1000 
Pennsylvanians.  Moreover,  in  the  late  war  the  colonists 
had  contributed  25,000  men,  armed  and  equipped,  had 
built  forts  and  defences,  had  spent  some  ^80,000  each 
year  on  the  war,  and  if  Great  Britain  had  contributed  in 
like  proportion,  there  would  have  been  no  increase  in 
the  national  debt.  Parliament  had  acknowledged  this 
undue  contribution,  and  had  repaid  some  of  the  colonies 
about  two-fifths  of  it. 

An  increase  of  the  armed  force  in  the  colonies  would 
mean  an  increased  expenditure  and  an  increased  debt. 
To  avoid  this,  Grenville  conceived  the  idea  of  an  addi 
tional  tax.  Such  a  tax  would  also  settle  the  disputed 
question  of  the  right  of  Parliament  to  tax  the  colonists. 
Franklin  is  said  to  have  compared  Grenville's  making 
the  colonists  pay  for  an  army  to  be  stationed  over  them 

1  Connected  with  this  Braddock  expedition  were  four  men  who  became 
generals  in  the  Revolutionary  war  —  Washington,  Lee,  Gates,  and  Stephen. 
Familiarity  with  the  boasted  "  regular  "  had  bred  proverbial  contempt. 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN  23 

to  the  man  who  wished  to  thrust  a  red-hot  poker  through 
another's  foot,  and,  being  refused,  demanded  pay  for 
heating  the  poker. 

Seeking  some  easy  and  equitable  form  of  taxation 
which  would  fall  on  property,  not  interfere  with  existing 
private  laws,  and  be  inexpensive  and  sure  of  collection, 
Grenville  finally  revived  the  plan  of  a  stamp  tax.  It 
was  a  form  familiar  to  England  for  almost  a  century 
and  levied  at  various  times  by  several  American  colo 
nies.  Not  a  protest  was  heard  against  it  in  England, 
and  a  seemingly  unfortunate  postponement  until  the 
next  session  of  Parliament  gave  a  year's  warning  to 
the  colonies  before  it  was  brought  up  for  action.  But 
the  colonies  were  torn  by  internal  dissensions  and  had 
no  agency  to  act  for  them.  Some  Assemblies  passed 
resolutions.  Those  of  Massachusetts  and  New  York 
were  sent  over,  but  withheld  by  the  ministry  lest  their 
"  most  indecent  disrespect "  should  draw  from  Parliament 
"votes  of  censure  and  severity  toward  the  offenders." 

The  resolutions  of  Pennsylvania,  ignoring  the  claims 
of  Grenville  and  Parliament,  were  entrusted  to  Franklin 
in  addition  to  the  more  important  petition  against  the 
proprietors,  and  he  embarked  on  his  third  voyage  to 
England  as  has  been  described.  The  disturbed  condi 
tion  of  Pennsylvania  at  this  time l  made  him  appreciate 

1  He  had  just  been  defeated  for  the  Assembly.  That  body  had  refused 
to  pay  the  expenses  of  his  trip  to  England,  and  the  necessary  sum  had  to 
be  raised  by  popular  subscription.  Several  stanzas  burlesquing  Franklin's 
invention  of  a  stove  were  said  to  have  been  written  at  this  time.  The  last 
one  runs  : 

"  Let  candor  then  write  on  his  urn; 

'  Here  lies  the  renowned  inventor, 
Whose  flame  to  the  skies  ought  to  burn, 
But  inverted  descends  to  the  centre.' " 


24  THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

keenly  the  compliment  of  an  escort  of  three  hundred 
horsemen  to  Chester  and  the  good  wishes  of  the  friends 
who  accompanied  him  on  board.  He  reached  England 
in  'December,  1764,  and  joined  the  agents  of  the  other 
colonies  in  protesting  to  Grenville  against  the  proposed 
Stamp  Tax.1 

The  Stamp  Act,  if  its  results  be  considered,  was  the 
most  important  legislation  of  the  century ;  yet  Burke, 
who  was  in  the  gallery  of  the  House  of  Commons, 
testified  that  he  had  "never  heard  a  more  languid 
debate.  No  more  than  two  or  three  gentlemen,  as  I 
remember,  spoke  against  the  act  and  that  with  great 
reserve  and  remarkable  temper.  There  was  but  one 
division  in  the  whole  progress  of  the  bill ;  and  the  minor 
ity  did  not  reach  to  more  than  thirty-nine  or  forty.  In 
the  House  of  Lords,  I  do  not  recollect  that  there  was  any 
debate  or  division  at  all.  I  am  sure  there  was  no  pro 
test.  In  fact,  the  affair  passed  with  so  very  little  noise 
that  in  town  they  scarcely  knew  the  nature  of  what  you 
were  doing."  2  So  little  question  was  there  about  the 
justice  or  advisability  of  the  measure. 

The  1 1 7  sections  of  the  Stamp  Act  designated  forty- 
three  kinds  of  legal  documents  which  should  be  written 
on  stamped  paper ;  and  also  provided  for  stamps  on 
advertisements,  almanacs,  cards,  dice,  pamphlets,  and 

1  The  maintenance  in  England  of  colonial  agents,  with  duties  much  like 
modern  consuls,  was  quite  common  among  the  colonies.     In  addition  to 
Pennsylvania,  Franklin  was  later  appointed  agent  for  his  native  colony, 
Massachusetts;    for  New  Jersey,   through   the  influence  of  his  son;    for 
Georgia,  possibly  through  his  friend  Whitefield,  the  preacher.     His  com 
bined  salary  amounted  to  ^1200,  but  being  dependent  on  the  Assemblies 
and  under  a  governor's  veto,  was  not  regularly  received. 

2  Hansard's  "Debates,"  Vol.  16,  p.  40.     Burke's  "  Works,"  Bohn  Edi 
tion,  Vol.  I.,  p.  421.     See  also  Burke's  "Annual  Register." 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN 


newspapers.  The  stamps  varied  in  value  from  a  half 
penny  on  a  small  newspaper  to  ^10  (about  fifty  dollars) 
on  the  admission  of  an  attorney  to  the  bar.  A  college 
diploma  must  bear  a  stamp  worth  £2.  The  execution 


STAMPS  OF  1765 

of  the  act  was  given  to  the  Stamp  Commissioners  of 
England  to  appoint  supervisors  and  distributers  of  the 
stamps  and  stamped  paper  in  America.1 

No  one  in  England  could  have  foreseen  the  rebellion 
which  followed  and  still  less  have  divined  the  cause. 
True,  the  act  bore  the  startling  title  that  it  was  just  and 
necessary  to  raise  a  revenue  in  the  plantations  of 
America  "for  the  expenses  of  defending,  protecting 
and  securing  "  them,  and  that  the  Parliament  gave  and 
granted  the  duties  described  therein ;  but  a  port  duty 
act  of  the  previous  year,  bearing  the  same  title,  had  not 
been  resisted.  Franklin  always  insisted  that  the  Ameri- 

1  The  full  text  of  the  Stamp  Act  may  be  found  in  Hart's  "  American 
History  Leaflets,"  No.  21.  Also  in  Macdonald's  "Select  Charters."  The 
originals  of  the  stamps  shown  above  are  in  the  Smithsonian  Institution, 
Washington.. 


26  THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

cans  could  "as  well  have  hindered  the  sun's  setting" 
as  to  have  prevented  the  passage  of  the  act  and  likewise 
claimed  that  he  had  done  all  in  his  power  to  prevent 
the  birth  of  this  "  mother  of  mischief,"  as  he  called  it. 
But  when  it  had  become  a  law,  he  readily  assented 
to  Grenville's  suggestion  that  it  would  be  more  con 
venient  and  agreeable  to  appoint  American  agents  to 
distribute  the  stamps  than  to  send  over  strangers  for 
that  purpose.  He  named  his  friend  and  supporter, 
John  Hughes,  of  Philadelphia.  The  other  colonial 
agents  also  named  distributers  for  their  respective 
colonies.1 

Pennsylvania  fell  into  a  fit  of  rage  over  this  action  of 
her  agent ;  accused  him  of  dereliction  of  duty  in  not 
preventing  the  passage  of  the  act ;  hinted  that  he  had 
first  solicited  a  stamp  agency  for  himself,  as  one  of 
the  agents,  Lee,  of  Virginia,  had  done.  His  house  was 
threatened  by  a  mob  ;  the  chimes  of  Christ  Church, 
which  had  rung  so  joyously  when  the  news  of  his  safe 
arrival  in  England  reached  Philadelphia,  now  tolled  dis 
mally  for  his  treachery ;  and  a  broadside  was  circulated 
showing  the  devil  whispering  into  his  ear,  "  Ben,  you 
shall  be  my  agent  throughout  my  dominions."  So  high 
rose  the  storm  that  Whitefield,2  who  had  returned  to 
England,  sent  back  letters  testifying  to  the  fidelity  of 

1  Among  the  distributers  appointed  were :  Messerve,  for  New  Hamp 
shire;    Oliver,  for  Massachusetts;    Johnston,  for  Rhode  Island;    Ingersoll, 
for  Connecticut;    McEvers,  for  New  York;   Coxe,  for  New  Jersey;   Hughes, 
for  Pennsylvania;    Mercer,  for  Virginia;   Hood,  for  Maryland.    A  complete 
list  of  nineteen  agents  for  all  the  American  colonies  was  printed  in  the 
Pennsylvania  Gazette,  Aug.  22,  1765. 

2  Franklin,  not  a  church-goer,  had  been  impressed  with  the  preaching 
of  George  Whitefield  on  his  several  missionary  visits  to  America,  and  a 
strong  friendship  had  arisen  between  them. 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN  27 

the  unfortunate  agent.  Galloway  thought  these  letters 
would  quiet  "the  Presbyterians." 

In  the  riotous  times  which  followed  the  arrival  of  the 
stamps  in  the  colonies,  the  action  of  Pennsylvania  was 
moderate,  although  the  cannon  at  the  fort  were  spiked. 
Franklin  had  suggested  to  Charles  Thomson,  of  Phila 
delphia,  the  lighting  of  candles  (of  industry)  during  the 
night  which  would  follow  the  Stamp  Act ;  but  Thomson 
replied  from  the  colonies  that  Franklin  was  much  more 
likely  to  hear  of  "works  of  darkness."  Rebellion  was 
evident  in  the  blazing  piles  of  stamps  and  stamped  paper; 
in  the  stamps  thrown  overboard  into  the  harbors ;  in  the 
forced  resignations  of  stamp  agents ;  even  in  the  stamps 
forcedly  replaced  on  the  ships  for  return  to  England. 
Courts  were  suspended ;  lawyers  signed  agreements  not 
to  use  the  stamped  paper  and  not  to  undertake  suits 
brought  by  English  merchants.  A  wag  wrote  a  legal 
document  on  birch  bark,  claiming  that  it  needed  no  stamp 
since  it  was  neither  skin,  vellum,  parchment,  nor  paper. 
Calm  wisdom  and  cooperation  at  last  suggested  a  Con 
gress  which  met  in  New  York  to  protest  and  to  petition 
for  redress. 

The  twenty-six  newspapers  in  the  colonies  were  vitally 
interested  in  the  stamp  tax.  Many  suspended  publica 
tion  rather  than  print  on  stamped  paper,  placing  mourn 
ing  lines  about  their  last  issue,  and  using  a  death's 
head  instead  of  the  stamp.  Others,  notably  the  Bos 
ton  Gazette,  defiantly  continued  publication  without  the 
stamps.  Mr.  Hall,  the  partner  of  Franklin,  who  edited 
the  Pennsylvania  Gazette  in  his  absence,  placed  mourn 
ing  borders  about  the  last  number  before  the  act  went 
into  effect.  On  the  next  regular  day  of  the  Gazette  he 


28  THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

issued  a  small  sheet  and  placed  at  the  head  "  Remark 
able  Occurrences  "  instead  of  the  accustomed  heading. 


OSMer  31,    1765.  NI-MB.     1923. 

[•he  PENNSYLVANIA  G    A     Z     E     T    7    2 


On  the  next  publication  day,  he  used  "  No  Stamped 
Paper  to  be  Had,"  possibly  hoping  in  this  way  to  avoid 
punishment. 


Remarkable    Occurrences. 


As  usual  in  such  disturbances  the  mob  showed  its 
ugly  head.  The  governor  of  New  York  was  compelled 
to  deliver  the  stamps  to  the  city  government,  and  his 
chariot  was  burned  on  the  Bowling  Green.  A  lawyer 
and  a  physician  of  Rhode  Island  fled  for  refuge  on 
board  a  ship  for  daring  to  uphold  the  act.  The  Boston 
mob  raged  for  ten  days,  pillaging  the  houses  of  the  state 
officers,  razing  a  supposed  stamp  office,  and  threatening 
officials,  while  the  captain  of  the  militia  refused  to  call 
out  his  men  because  his  drummers  were  all  in  the  mob. 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN  29 

Persons  arrested  were  promptly  released  by  their  friends. 
Franklin  confessed  himself  "  grieved  to  hear  of  such  hor 
rid  disorders,"  and  promised  that  the  Assemblies  would 
soon  bring  the  ringleaders  to  punishment  if  they  could. 
Yet  when  Parliament  was  hesitating  whether  to  pro 
nounce  the  colonies  in  rebellion  or  to  withdraw  the 
Stamp  Act,  and  Franklin  was  called  before  the  House 
of  Commons  to  be  questioned  on  the  attitude  of  the  colo 
nists,  he  did  not  hesitate  to  say  that  personally  he  would 
prefer  the  many  debts  owing  him  at  home  to  remain 
unrecoverable  by  law  than  to  have  the  courts  continue 
sessions  by  using  the  stamped  paper. 

This  examination l  was  turned  into  a  delightful  bit  of 
strategy.  Knowing  that  he  was  to  be  called,  the  subtle 
doctor  and  his  friends  in  the  House  of  Commons  pre 
arranged  certain  questions  which  he  could  answer  and 
so  justify  the  position  of  the  colonists.  The  closing 
questions  and  replies  were  : 

Q.  What  used  to  be  the  pride  of  the  Americans  ? 
A.  To  indulge  in  the  fashions  and  manufactures  of 
Great  Britain. 

Q.  What  is  now  their  pride?  A.  To  wear  their  old 
clothes  over  again,  till  they  can  make  new  ones. 

These  friendly  questions  drew  the  fire  from  the  hos 
tile  inquiries,  and  Burke  declared  the  whole  thing  re 
minded  him  of  a  party  of  schoolboys  examining  their 
master. 

The  examination  may  have  had  some  influence  in 
determining  the  repeal  of  the  Stamp  Act ;  but  a  more 
powerful  argument  was  found  in  the  sudden  depression 
of  trade  caused  by  the  stubborn  determination  outlined 

1  To  be  found  readily  in  any  edition  of  Franklin's  writings. 


30  THE  MEN-  W 'HO  MADE   THE  NATION 

in  the  last  reply  of  Franklin.  Local  "  Associators  "  all 
over  the  colonies  vowed  to  use  domestic  manufactures 
instead  of  importing  them  from  England  ;  to  use  no 
mutton  so  that  the  wool  product  might  be  increased  ;  to 
practise  a  rigid  economy  ;  and  to  stimulate  American 
manufacture  in  every  possible  manner.  The  result  was 
first  felt  by  the  London  merchant,  then  by  the  English 
manufacturer,  and  in  turn  by  the  English  workingman. 
It  undoubtedly  added  to  the  labor  demonstrations  which 
marked  the  year  in  England.1 

When  Parliament  reconvened  in  January,  1766,  its 
tables  were  covered  with  petitions.  The  merchants 
asserted  that  a  total  annihilation  of  their  trade  was 
imminent ;  that  the  colonists  were  not  only  refusing  to 
buy  goods  but  were  declining  to  pay  for  those  already 
purchased  and  shipped ; 2  that  this  indebtedness 
amounted  to  upward  of  four  millions  sterling,  and  its 
loss  would  mean  ruin  to  many.  Workmen  in  all  kinds 
of  industries  petitioned  for  the  repeal  of  an  act  which 
threw  them  out  of  employment.  Some  pointed  to  the 
experience  with  the  island  of  Jamaica,  where  a  stamp 
act  was  abandoned  after  three  years  of  trial.  For  ten 
days  the  debate  continued  in  the  House  of  Commons, 
Pitt  going  to  the  extremity  of  "rejoicing"  that  the  colo 
nies  had  resisted,  and  Grenville  pleading  the  justice  of 
the  measure,  but  blaming  its  failure  on  the  ministry 

1  "There  are  claimers  enough  of  merit  in  obtaining  the  repeal.     But  if 
I  live  to  see  you,  I  will  let  you  know  what  an  escape  we  had  in  the  be 
ginning  of  the  affair  and  how  much  we  are  obliged  to  what  the  profane 
would  call  luck  and  pious  Providence."     Franklin  to  Charles  Thomson, 
"  Works,"  Bigelow  Edition,  Vol.  III.,  p.  474. 

2  Both   Washington   and  P'ranklin  condemned  this  expedient  as  dis 
honorable.    Franklin's  "  Works,"  Sparks  Edition,  Vol.  VIL,  p.  373 ;  "  Wash 
ington's  Life  and  Writings,"  Sparks  Edition,  Vol.  II.,  pp.  351,  395. 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN  31 

which  had  succeeded  his  own.  He  was  most  bitter 
toward  the  colonists,  having  moved  an  amendment  to 
the  King's  address,  declaring  them  to  be  in  a  state  of 
rebellion. 

So  absorbing  was  the  great  struggle  over  American 
affairs  that  "  twelve,  one,  or  two  o'clock  in  the  morning, 
were  become  the  common  dining  hours  of  the  members, 
so  late  it  frequently  was  before  they  broke  up  from 
public  business."  Seats  were  ticketed  at  eight  in  the 
morning,  and  the  attendance  of  members  reached  over 
four  hundred.  After  many  arguments  "  without  and 
within  doors,"  the  repeal  was  passed  by  275  to  167  and 
carried  up  to  the  House  of  Lords  by  over  200  mem 
bers,  where  it  passed  by  43  majority.  In  the  "Annual 
Register,"  Burke  declared  the  repeal  was  an  event  that 
caused  more  universal  joy  throughout  the  British  domin 
ions  than  perhaps  any  other  that  could  be  remembered. 
London  houses  were  illuminated;  ships  on  the  Thames 
displayed  flags ;  and  church  bells  were  rung  all  night. 
The  London  merchants  had  spent  .£1500  on  the  peti 
tions  and  in  influencing  Parliament.  They  now  sent  a 
vessel  along  the  Atlantic  coast  to  notify  all  American 
traders  of  the  repeal,  and  they  also  gave  a  banquet  to 
their  "  friends  "  in  Parliament. 

Crowds  surrounded  the  House  of  Parliament  when 
the  Commons  adjourned  after  passing  the  repeal,  and 
cheered  the  opposition.  It  was  afterward  reported  that 
Grenville  was  obliged  to  ask  protection  from  the  mob. 
Franklin  may  have  felt  some  satisfaction  in  these  dem 
onstrations,  but  he  was  more  interested  in  the  descrip 
tion  which  Galloway  sent  him  of  the  Philadelphia 
celebration  of  the  repeal  of  the  Stamp  Act.  Despite 


32  THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

the  efforts  of  the  moderates  who  patrolled  the  city, 
there  were  fireworks,  illuminations,  and  the  firing  of 
cannon.  The  next  day  there  was  a  dinner  in  the  State 
House  yard.  On  the  king's  birthday,  a  barge  called 
the  "  Franklin  "  was  drawn  on  four  wheels  through  the 
streets  to  the  river  and  launched.  It  bore  a  company 
up  the  Schuylkill  to  an  entertainment  where  380  people 
drank  toasts  to  "Our  worthy  and  faithful  agent,  Dr. 
Franklin."  Pennsylvania  was  corrected  in  her  estimate 
of  the  services  of  her  representative. 

Parliament  covered  its  retreat  by  the  "  Dependency 
Act,"  1  which  declared  that  Parliament  "  had,  hath,  and 
of  right  ought  to  have  full  power  and  authority  to  bind 
the  colonies  and  people  of  America  subjects  of  the 
Crown  of  Great  Britain  in  all  cases  whatsoever " ;  a 
declaration  which  Franklin  declared  would  not  be  ob 
jectionable  to  the  colonists  as  long  as  no  attempt  was 
made  to  enforce  it.  But  to  the  various  attempts  to 
enforce  it  are  due  the  several  events  marking  the  prog 
ress  of  the  Revolution. 

Moreover,  it  was  in  direct  opposition  to  the  conten 
tion  of  the  colonists  that  self-representation  and  self- 
taxation  were  two  inherited  rights  of  Englishmen. 
Four  years  before  the  Stamp  Act,  James  Otis  had 
spoken  public  sentiment  in  words  which  became  pro 
verbial,  "  Taxation  without  representation  is  tyranny." 
Burke  showed  the  impracticability  of  a  direct  represen 
tation  of  the  colonies  in  Parliament  because  of  their 
distance,2  and  Franklin  in  time  reached  the  same  con- 

1  Sometimes  in  debate  called  "  the  Declaratory  Act." 

2  Burke's  "  Works,"  Bohn  Edition,  Vol.  I.,  p.  259.     Adam  Smith  in  the 
"  Wealth  of  Nations  "  (Bk.  IV.,  Ch.  VII.)  advocated  colonial  represents- 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN  33 

elusion.  But  non-representation  was  too  good  a  cry  to 
be  abandoned.  Parliament  contended  that  the  whole 
realm  was  represented  and  not  by  divisions  thereof. 
Proof  was  found  in  England  in  the  several  "  rotten 
boroughs "  without  population  but  having  representa 
tives  in  Parliament,  while  the  manufacturing  cities  re 
cently  built  up  were  without  representation.  Of  the 
nine  million  people  in  England  it  was  estimated  that 
eight  million  had  no  actual  vote  in  electing  members  of 
the  House  of  Commons.  From  such  a  system  of  "vir 
tual"  representation  had  sprung  the  open  practice  of 
buying  seats  in  the  Commons  from  the  few  voters  in 
certain  of  the  boroughs ;  a  practice  so  generally  known 
that  Franklin  says  a  roar  of  laughter  greeted  the  sarcas 
tic  inquiry  from  a  member  if  a  definition  of  corruption 
were  needed  in  the  House  of  Commons.  "An  egre 
gious  farce "  was  his  comment  when  the  people  of 
Oxford  were  required  to  receive  on  their  knees  the 
speaker's  reprimand  for  having  turned  the  tables  and 
demanded  a  bribe  from  their  representative  for  reelec 
tion.  He  thought  "the  whole  nation  might  be  bought 
out  of  the  hands  of  the  present  bidders  (if  he  would 
offer  a  half  million)  by  the  very  devil  himself."  The 
"king's  friends"  fostered  this  venality  and  took  every 
advantage  of  it.1  This  state  of  affairs  could  not  be 

tion,  but  predicted  that  in  time  the  seat  of  empire  would  be  transferred  to 
America.  In  1778,  Parliament  offered  representation  to  their  former  colo 
nies,  but  it  was  too  late. 

rBurke's  "Thoughts  on  the  Causes  of  the  Present  Discontent"  (1770) 
deals  largely  with  the  practices  of  the  king's  friends.  The  "  civil  list "  or 
grant  to  the  king  was  ^"800,000  annually;  yet  in  1769  his  ministry  asked 
for  ^500,000  additional.  Some  asserted  that  part  of  this  money  was  used 
for  Parliamentary  corruption,  but  could  obtain  no  detailed  account  of  its 
expenditure.  A  cartoon  appeared  in  the  London  Magazine  depicting 
D 


THE  EXTRAVAGANCE  OF  KING  GEORGE  III. 


BENJAMIN-  FRANKLIN  35 

hidden  from  the  colonists,  and  Franklin  was  justified  in 
telling  the  government  that  although  there  had  been  a 
time  when  the  colonies  would  have  eagerly  accepted 
representation,  they  were  now  indifferent  to  it,  and  the 
time  was  rapidly  approaching  when  they  would  refuse  it. 
In  the  debate  on  the  repeal  of  the  Stamp  Act,  Lord 
Lyttleton  in  opposition  had  declared  "  the  same  reason 
ing  extends  to  all  acts  of  Parliament.  The  Americans 
will  find  themselves  crampt  by  the  Act  of  Navigation 
and  oppose  that,  too."  The  prediction  proved  true. 
That  they  had  not  already  opposed  by  force  the  various 
efforts  to  regulate  their  trade  was  due  not  alone  to  their 
being  unaccustomed  to  revolutionary  methods,  but  also  to 
the  fact  that  this  practice  of  commercial  restriction  was 
but  a  part  of  the  economic  doctrine  of  the  age.  Adam 
Smith  had  not  yet  written  his  "  Wealth  of  Nations," 
and  the  whole  economic  system  was  based  on  monopo 
lies,  restrictions,  and  direct  returns.  In  common  with 
other  colony-planting  nations,  Great  Britain  made  her 
American  colonies  profitable  by  requiring  exports  and 
imports  to  pass  through  the  mother  country ;  by  forbid 
ding  the  sale  of  certain  "  enumerated  "  commodities,1 
save  in  England ;  by  prohibiting  the  importation  of 
molasses  and  sugar  from  any  except  the  British  West 
Indies  ;  by  forbidding  the  exportation  or  even  inter 
colonial  transportation  of  American  cloth  and  hats  so 
that  a  market  might  be  fostered  for  the  manufactures 
of  England ;  by  prohibiting  the  erection  of  steel  forges 

King  George  as   a   child   demanding  " more  supplies"  from  his  mother, 
Britannia. 

1  The  list  of  enumerated  articles  was  changed  from  time  to  time, 
but  generally  included  tobacco,  molasses,  sugar,  rice,  copper,  and  naval 
stores. 


36  THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

or  mills  for  slitting  iron  into  suitable  lengths  from 
which  nails  could  be  made  by  hand.  These  acts  were 
framed  at  different  times  during  a  hundred  years,  and 
one  law  was  often  necessary  to  supplement  or  explain 
another,  until  absurdity  was  reached l  and  the  colonial 
trade  must  have  been  entirely  cut  off  if  the  laws  had 
been  enforced  and  no  compensations  given. 

But  there  were  compensations.  The  acts  fostered 
colonial  shipbuilding  and  gave  employment  to  colonial 
sailors.  If  the  importation  of  molasses  was  burdened 
by  duties  interfering  with  the  rum  manufacture  in  New 
England,  rum  was  also  on  the  protected  list.  If  certain 
11  enumerated  "  articles  could  be  sold  only  in  England, 
others  equally  cultivated  in  the  colonies  were  not  enu 
merated,  and  some  were  even  encouraged  by  a  bounty. 
If  England  had  a  monopoly  on  the  sale  of  colonial 
tobacco,  the  colonies  had  a  counter  monopoly,  since 
England  could  buy  tobacco  nowhere  else.  Drawbacks  2 
mitigated  the  seventy  of  some  of  these  regulations,  as 
also  did  tacit  connivance  at  evasions  and  subterfuges. 
Vessels  were  allowed  openly  to  carry  on  forbidden  trade, 
and  sometimes  restricted  articles  were  conveyed  under 
the  fiction  of  necessary  ship  stores. 

For  such  reasons  the  colonists  endured  for  years 
these  restrictions  on  their  commerce,  until  England  tried 
to  direct  them  into  channels  for  raising  a  revenue. 
However  tyrannical  they  were  when  enforced,  England 

1  Iron  and  steel  mills  were  declared  common  nuisances  on  account  of 
their  noise  —  in  thinly  populated  America  !     To  such  absurdity  grew  the 
practice  of  "  extending  "  acts  originally  applicable  to  England  alone. 

2  A  drawback  is  a  certain  sum  repaid  by  the  government  upon   the 
exportation  of  goods  on  which  an  import  duty  had  been  paid  when  they 
were  brought  into  the  country. 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN  37 

framed  them  originally  for  the  purpose  of  retaining  a 
monopoly  over  colonies  planted  on  ground  belonging  to 
her  by  right  of  discovery  and  founded  through  her 
agencies. 

The  agitation  resulting  from  the  Stamp  Act  dispelled 
some  of  the  ignorance  so  frequently  manifested  con 
cerning  the  American  colonies.  The  blunders  of  much 
of  the  legislation  had  been  due  to  this  ignorance.  It 
in  turn  was  due  largely  to  the  careless  and  deficient 
reports  sent  over  by  the  royal  governors,  many  of 
whom  were  appointed  for  political  reasons  and  were 
shifted  from  one  post  to  another.  Franklin  enjoyed  the 
witty  remark  of  Soame  Jenyns  on  being  approached 
with  some  measure  for  the  colonies,  "  I  can  have  no 
possible  objection  to  it,  provided  we  have  hitherto 
signed  nothing  to  the  contrary."  1 

The  Stamp  Act  riots  in  America  went  unpunished, 
and  steps  were  taken  by  Parliament  not  only  to  remit 
the  fines  imposed  for  using  unstamped  paper,  but  also 
to  compensate  those  who  had  lost  property  at  the 
hands  of  the  mob  ;  yet  the  Dependency  Act  remained 
among  the  statutes,  and  it  was  unlikely  that  England 
would  consent  to  remain  defied  by  her  subjects  and 
abandon  attempts  to  tax  them.  Extremists  like  James 

1  The  plan  of  Dean  Tucker  for  protecting  the  colonists  from  the  Indians 
will  illustrate  the  many  visionary  schemes  for  dealing  with  problems  at  a 
distance  of  three  thousand  miles.  He  would  have  a  strip  of  land  one  mile 
wide  all  along  the  western  border  cleared  of  woods  so  that  the  savages 
could  not  cross  unseen.  Franklin  said  the  good  dean  forgot  that  there 
was  a  night  in  every  twenty-four  hours  in  America.  Another  theorist 
would  supply  each  chief  with  a  costume  of  savage  finery  made  exclusively 
in  England,  and  thus  keep  the  Indians  bound  to  England.  Governor 
Bernard  thought  an  American  nobility  the  only  agency  strong  enough  to 
hold  the  allegiance  of  the  colonists. 


38  THE  MEN'  WHO  MADE   THE  NATION 

Otis  had  scorned  distinctions  or  grades  of  taxation  ;  but 
moderates  like  Franklin  could  distinguish  between  an 
internal  tax,  like  the  Stamp  Act,  and  an  external  tax. 
The  one  was  collected  directly  and  by  compulsion,  had 
a  revenue  for  its  sole  object,  and  was  clearly  illegal ;  but 
an  external  tax  like  an  impost  duty  was  collected  indi 
rectly,  the  purchase  of  dutiable  goods  was  optional,  and 
its  object  was  to  regulate  and  make  commerce  secure. 

Charles  Townshend,  who  had  become  Chancellor 
of  the  Exchequer  in  1766,  also  scorned  these  distinc 
tions,  but  he  took  the  Americans  at  their  word  and 
proposed  an  external  tax,  or  impost  duty,  on  a  few 
luxuries  —  glass,  paper,  pasteboard,  paints,  and  tea  — 
supposed  not  to  be  produced  in  sufficient  quantities  in 
the  colonies.  The  revenue  expected  to  be  derived  from 
the  act  was  not  above  .£70,000,  and  it  was  said  that 
the  London  merchants  offered  to  subscribe  the  entire 
amount  rather  than  enter  into  another  controversy  with 
the  Americans.  But  the  remote  object  of  gaining  a 
revenue  was  now  lost  in  the  immediate  question  of 
power  to  hold  the  colonies.  This  was  shown  in  an 
accompanying  measure  for  a  board  of  revenue  com 
missioners  with  a  machinery  entirely  independent  of 
the  colonists,  and  likely  to  be  more  efficient  in  stop 
ping  smuggling  than  thrice  the  twenty  regiments  pro 
posed  by  Grenville.  The  proceeds  of  the  duty  were 
also  to  be  under  the  direct  disposal  of  the  king. 

So  much  regret  was  felt  in  England  for  the  hasty 
repeal  of  the  Stamp  Act  —  a  "fatal  compliance,"  as  the 
king  called  it  —  that  the  Townshend  measures  passed 
with  little  opposition.  In  America,  barring  some  strong 
resolutions  from  Boston,  there  was  no  resistance.  A 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN 


39 


general  era  of  good  feeling  seemed  at  hand.  The  king 
ordered  "  most  healing  letters  "  written  to  the  governors 
to  be  read  before  the  Assemblies ;  he  was  toasted  and 
his  birthdays  celebrated  as  of  old ;  disorderly  resist 
ance  was  a  thing  of  the  past.  But  the  colonists  had 
learned  two  dangerous  lessons  —  how  effective  coopera 
tion  could  be  made,  and  how  easily  they  could  depend 
on  home  manufactures.  Agreements  not  to  import 
goods  from  England  were  abandoned  after  the  repeal 
of  the  Stamp  Act,  and  trade  should  have  resumed  its 


RTVDUOll 


former  proportions.  But  in  1767  the  exports  to  Amer 
ica  were  ,£1,500,000  below  the  mark  of  three  years 
before.  A  vessel  loaded  with  glass  and  nails  returned 
from  Boston  for  want  of  a  market.  A  cargo  of  expen 
sive  mourning  goods  was  also  returned.  "  Save  your 
money  and  save  your  country,"  was  the  motto  displayed 
in  certain  newspapers.  The  economic  philosophy  of 
"  Poor  Richard,"  written  years  before,  was  bearing  fruit. 
As  a  first  object  lesson,  Franklin  adopted  an  allegorical 
design  for  his  note-paper  to  illustrate  the  dismemberment 
of  the  British  empire.  It  is  reproduced  above. 


40     THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

Franklin  now  predicted  that  the  colonists  would  be 
as  willing  to  pay  for  one  passion  as  another ;  for  their 
resentment  as  fcr  their  pride.  He  praised  the  discreet 
silence  with  which  the  New  Yorkers  received  the 
Townshend  acts  and  wished  "the  Boston  people  had 
been  as  quiet."  Their  resolution  had  produced  "a  most 
prodigious  clamor."  Yet  to  that  clamor  rather  than  to 
Franklin's  policy  of  quiet  development,  America  owes 
her  ultimate  freedom.  Townshend's  insidious  plan  of 
placing  a  duty  on  a  few  articles  must  have  succeeded  in 
bringing  the  colonies  gradually  under  Parliamentary  con 
trol  had  it  not  been  for  the  " clamor"  of  certain  sentinels, 
the  loudest  of  whom  was  Samuel  Adams,  the  agitator 
of  Boston.  Franklin  might  have  secured  commercial 
freedom  ;  Adams  secured  political  freedom  as  well. 

Although  receiving  much  attention  from  his  friends, 
Franklin  lived  quietly  at  the  boarding  house  of  Mrs. 
Stevenson,  Craven  street,  near  the  Strand,  with  whom 
he  resided  during  his  combined  fifteen  years'  stay  in 
England.  "  I  live  here  as  frugally  as  possible  not  to 
be  destitute  of  the  comforts  of  life,  making  no  dinners 
to  anybody  and  contenting  myself  with  a  single  dish 
when  I  dine  alone."  So  he  informed  his  wife  when  he 
suggested  that  she  should  forego  "  an  expensive  feasting 
wedding"  for  the  approaching  marriage  of  their  daughter 
Sally,  and  "fit  her  out  in  clothes  and  furniture  not  ex 
ceeding  in  the  whole  five  hundred  pounds  of  value." 
When  the  "  Associators  "  disbanded  after  the  Stamp  Act 
was  repealed,1  Franklin  celebrated  the  supposed  return 

1  Philadelphia  citizens  resolved  in  a  public  meeting  to  celebrate  the 
king's  coming  birthday  by  dressing  in  new  suits  of  English  manufacture, 
and  by  giving  their  homespun  to  the  poor. 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN  4 1 

to  English  manufactures  by  sending  to  his  family  some 
Pompadour  satin,  brocaded  lutestring,  gloves,  reels  for 
winding  silk,  and  "a  gimcrack  corkscrew,  which  you 
must  get  some  brother  gimcrack  to  show  you  the  use 
of." 

By  nature  Franklin  belonged  to  the  patrician  class. 
He  was  intensely  devoted  to  good  living,  delighted  with 
good  fellowship,  fond  of  hobnobbing  with  the  great,  at 
tracted  by  a  bright  mind  in  either  sex,  and  carried  a 
stock  of  wit  and  anecdote  which  made  him  a  welcome 
addition  to  any  circle.  In  general  inclination  as  well  as 
in  his  dress,  the  purely  practical  overshadowed  the 
aesthetic.  "  I  must  confess  that  if  I  could  find  in  any 
Italian  travels  a  receipt  for  making  Parmese  cheese,  it 
would  give  me  more  satisfaction  than  a  transcript  of  any 
inscription  from  any  old  stone  whatever."  Years  before 
this  time,  he  had  received  degrees  from  both  Oxford 
and  Edinburgh,  and  the  Copley  medal  for  his  scientific 
researches.  These  distinctions,  no  less  than  his  natural 
qualities,  won  for  him  in  England  friends  like  Burke, 
Lord  Shelburne,  the  Bishop  of  St.  Asaph,  Lord  Howe, 
Dr.  Priestley,  and  others.  Pleasant  glimpses  of  his 
daily  life  are  afforded  in  his  letters  home;  attending  a 
venison  feast  "  where  I  have  drunk  more  than  a  phi 
losopher  ought "  ;  accompanying  the  queen's  physician 
on  a  pleasure  trip  to  France ;  dining  with  prominent 
men  and  receiving  "a  great  deal  of  flummery"  from 
them ;  being  hugged  and  kissed  after  wine  by  a  noble 
man  who  protested  that  he  had  never  met  a  man  with 
whom  he  was  so  much  in  love.  Making  a  tour  of 
Ireland  and  Scotland,  he  was  given  a  seat  in  the  Irish 
Parliament  by  the  unanimous  vote  of  the  members,  and 


42  THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

received  "  an  abundance  of  civilities  from  the  gentry  of 
both  kingdoms."  He  was  chosen  a  foreign  member  of 
the  French  Royal  Academy,  an  honor  conferred  on 
only  eight  men  in  Europe. 

But  despite  these  honors  and  pleasant  associations, 
evil  days  were  coming  upon  him.  As  time  widened 
the  breach  between  the  colonies  and  the  mother  country, 
whatever  moderate  views  Franklin  might  hold,  it  was 
impossible  for  him  to  escape  suspicion  of  being  too 
much  in  sympathy  with  the  rebels.  Efforts  were  made 
to  bind  him  to  the  crown  by  hints  of  an  office — some 
said  the  governorship  of  Pennsylvania  —  which  kept 
him  for  some  time  dancing  attendance  on  political 
leaders,  but  came  to  naught.  His  son  was  made  gov 
ernor  of  New  Jersey  on  the  supposition  that  "  what  he 
is  ordered  to  do,  the  father  cannot  well  oppose  "  ;  but  it 
resulted  in  Franklin  adhering  more  closely  to  the  rebels 
and  his  son  being  compelled  to  flee  from  his  governor 
ship  during  the  Revolution.  For  twenty  years  he  had 
been  one  of  two  deputy  postmaster-generals  for  the 
colonies  at  a  joint  salary  of  ,£600.  Covert  threats  were 
now  made  of  removing  him,  but  he  refused  to  take  any 
hints,  being  as  he  said  "  deficient  in  the  Christian  grace 
of  resignation." 

The  crisis  came  in  the  "  Hutchinson  letters."  One 
day  in  a  conversation,  a  friend  in  England  had  insisted 
that  the  laws  of  which  the  colonists  complained  were 
"  projected,  proposed  to  administration,  solicited,  and 
obtained,  by  some  of  the  most  respectable  among  the 
Americans  themselves,  as  necessary  measures  for  the 
welfare  of  that  country."  Franklin  refused  to  believe 
any  one  of  his  countrymen  guilty  of  such  a  thing.  In 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN  43 

proof,  the  friend  submitted  letters  written  between  1767 
and  1769  to  a  private  gentleman  in  England,  by  Lieu 
tenant-governor  Hutchinson,1  Secretary  Oliver,  of  Mas 
sachusetts,  and  others.  The  writers  insisted  that  the 
revenue  acts  could  be  maintained  in  America  only  by 
the  aid  of  force ;  suggested  changes  in  the  Massachu 
setts  charter  which  would  tend  to  make  that  province 
less  independent ;  and  strongly  urged  that  some  way  be 
found  to  "  take  off  the  original  incendiaries." 

Actuated,  as  he  said,  only  by  his  duty  as  agent  for 
Massachusetts,  Franklin  requested  the  letters,  and,  under 
a  promise  of  secrecy,  forwarded  them  to  the  speaker  of 
the  Assembly  of  that  colony.  But  it  was  impossible  to 
keep  secret  such  evidences  of  the  unfaithfulness,  if  not 
treachery,  of  high  officials,  and  upon  demand  of  the 
Assembly  the  letters  were  produced  and  printed.  Reso 
lutions  were  immediately  forwarded  to  Franklin  for 
presentation  demanding  the  removal  of  the  offenders. 
Franklin's  agency  was  still  unknown,  but  the  affair  led 
to  a  duel  between  William  Whately,  to  whose  deceased 
brother  the  letters  had  been  written,  and  Mr.  Temple, 
through  whose  hands  they  had  probably  passed.  To 
prevent  a  second  encounter,  Franklin  confessed  his 
agency  in  sending  the  letters  to  America,  but  persisted 
in  refusing  to  tell  how  he  obtained  them.  He  further 
said  that  the  addresses  had  been  removed  before  he  saw 
them. 

All  the  feeling  engendered  by  Franklin's  course  in 

1  Thomas  Hutchinson,  a  graduate  of  Harvard  College,  rose  through 
many  colonial  offices  to  the  governorship  of  Massachusetts.  As  a  coura 
geous  and  conscientious  official,  he  was  in  frequent  conflict  with  the 
patriots,  as  described  later.  His  "Diary  and  Letters"  have  been  pub 
lished  by  P.  O.  Hutchinson,  and  a  "  Life  "  by  J.  K.  Hosmer. 


44  THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

defending  the  colonies  now  broke  forth.  Dr.  Samuel 
Johnson  pronounced  him  the  master  of  mischief.  His 
persistent  silence  concerning  the  letters,  necessary  to 
shield  Mr.  Temple,  was  construed  as  a  confession  of 
guilt.  Whately,  acting  as  executor  for  his  dead  brother, 
sued  Franklin  in  chancery  for  obtaining  the  letters  by 
illegal  means.  When  the  petition  for  the  removal  of 


-    tf 


[In  the  Museum  of  the  British  Post  Office,  London.] 

the  Massachusetts  officials  was  heard  at  the  Cockpit, 
the  solicitor-general  was  allowed  to  turn  aside  from  the 
main  issues  to  abuse  Franklin,  who  stood  near  by.  He 
compared  him  to  the  bloody  African  in  Dr.  Young's 
tragedy,  hailed  him  not  by  his  well-known  title  as  a 
man  of  letters,  but  as  "  a  man  of  three  letters  "  (Latin 
fur,  a  thief);  and  branded  him  as  one  before  whom 
men  would  hide  their  papers  and  lock  up  their  escri- 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN  45 

toires.  Two  days  later  the  postmaster-general  "  found 
it  necessary  to  dismiss "  Franklin  from  his  office  as 
deputy  for  the  colonies. 

During  the  remaining  fifteen  months  of  his  stay  in 
England,  closing  up  his  business  as  agent  and  turning 
it  over  to  his  successor,  Arthur  Lee,  Franklin  felt  him 
self  estranged  from  government.  He  had  no  further 
communication  with  the  ministry,  and  avoided  their 
levees.  He  was  momentarily  flattered  by  the  apparent 
desire  of  Pitt,  now  Lord  Chatham,  for  reconciliation, 
but  disappointed  when  he  saw  how  selfish  the  motives 
were.  Most  reluctantly  he  began  to  abandon  hope  of 
a  reconciliation  between  the  colonies  and  the  mother 
country.  He  had  already  summed  up  the  situation  in 
the  homely  terseness  of  Poor  Richard,  "  In  matrimonial 
matches,  it  is  said,  when  one  party  is  willing,  the  match 
is  half  made,  but  when  neither  party  is  willing,  there  is 
no  great  danger  of  their  coming  together." 

Despairing  of  further  usefulness,  he  bade  farewell  to 
his  friends  in  England  and  set  sail  for  Philadelphia, 
where  he  was  met  by  news  of  the  skirmish  at  Concord 
and  Lexington.  Political  rebellion  had  grown  into  war. 
He  was  at  once  elected  to  the  Revolutionary  Continental 
Congress  as  a  delegate  from  Pennsylvania. 

On  this  third  visit  to  England  he  had  spent  ten  years 
in  the  interests  of  his  people,  and  the  changes  which 
time  had  wrought  in  his  home  and  friends  were  pitiful. 
He  was  bound  by  many  ties  to  his  wife  who,  as  a  girl, 
had  stood  on  her  father's  steps  laughing  at  the  runaway 
printer's  apprentice  as  he  walked  up  the  street  the  morn 
ing  of  his  arrival  in  Philadelphia.  He  was  betrothed  to 
her  when  he  went  to  England  the  first  time,  but  an  indif- 


46  THE  MEN   WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

ference  grew  between  them,  and  she  married  another. 
After  he  returned,  and  the  unworthy  one  deserted  her, 
Franklin  married  her.  She  had  stood  faithfully  in  the 
little  stationer's  shop  for  many  years  before  a  compe 
tence,  due  largely  to  her  frugality,  enabled  them  to 
retire.  When  a  mob  threatened  the  house  at  the  time 
of  the  supposed  treachery  of  Franklin,  she  sent  for 
arms,  and  defended  the  hearthstone  in  the  absence  of 
the  master,  a  modern  Penelope  faithful  to  her  Ulysses. 
But  when  the  master  returned,  she  was  not  there  to 
greet  him.  The  winter's  snow  had  lain  on  her  grave 
in  Christ  churchyard.  Sally,  grown  to  womanhood  and 
married  to  Mr.  Bache,  had  taken  her  mother's  place  in 
the  household.  Many  of  Franklin's  friends  had  passed 
away,  and  the  Revolution  was  making  sad  divisions 
among  others.  He  felt  himself  an  old  man  now  in 
his  seventieth  year,  but  he  was  destined  to  give  fifteen 
years  more  to  the  people  whose  interests  he  had  guarded 
so  well  when  he  had  been  their  spokesman  at  the  court 
of  the  king. 

Oct.  5th  (1775)  .  .  .  This  afternoon  arrived  (the  ship 
Pennsylvania  Packet]  Captain  Osborne,  from  London,  in  which 
came  passenger,  Dr.  Benjamin  Franklin,  to  the  satisfaction  of 
his  friends  and  the  lovers  of  liberty.  —  Diary  of  Christopher 
Marshall,  of  Philadelphia. 


CHAPTER  II 

SAMUEL  ADAMS,  THE  MAN  OF  THE  TOWN  MEETING 

AT  a  Meeting  of  the  Freeholders  and  other  Inhabitants  of 
the  Town  of  Boston  duly  Qualified  and  lawfully  warned  in 
Publick  Town  Meeting  Assembled  at  Faneuil  Hall  on  Monday 
the  twelfth  day  of  March  Anno  Dom.  1753. 

It  was  Voted,  That  Mr  John  Tudor,  Mf  John  Ruddock,  Mf 
Samuel  Adams,  Foster  Hutchinson  Esqf,  Mr  Harrison  Gray, 
M!"  Oxenbridge  Thacher,  and  M*.  William  Cooper,  or  the 
Major  part  of  them,  be  and  they  hereby  are  appointed  a 
Committee  to  Visit  the  Publick  Schools  in  the  Town  the 
Year  ensuing  at  such  times  as  they  shall  think  proper,  to  See 
what  Number  of  Children  are  in  each  School,  to  Enquire  into 
their  behavior  and  Attendance,  and  the  Government  and  Regu 
lation  they  are  under,  and  they  are  desired  to  make  Report 
hereon  at  the  General  Town  Meeting  in  March  next.  —  From 
the  Boston  Town  Records,  1753. 

THE  town  meeting  is  the  primordial  germ  of  Saxon 
organization.  Reduced  almost  to  a  state  of  nature  in 
the  wilderness  of  the  new  world,  the  first  comers 
reverted  to  early  types  and  turned  instinctively  to  this 
form  of  self-government.  Their  charters  gave  to  them 
home  rule,  together  with  the  title  to  certain  unoccupied 
lands.  Divided  and  redivided  into  towns  as  the  growth 
of  population  demanded,  the  people  of  New  England 
multiplied  the  number  of  town  meetings  and  so  uncon 
sciously  created  a  cooperative  agency  which  placed  that 

47 


48     THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

region  foremost  in  resisting  Parliamentary  coercion  and 
control. 

Assembling  annually  in  March  and  at  such  other  times 
as  necessity  might  demand,  a  moderator  (chairman)  was 
chosen  either  by  "  a  written  Vote "  or  by  "  a  handy 
Vote,"  the  town  clerk  opened  his  minute  book,  and  the 
varied  business  before  the  meeting  was  begun. l  Even 
in  time  of  peace,  urgent  matters  were  not  wanting. 
They  embraced  such  questions  as  the  employment  of  a 
school  usher  or  master  and  determining  the  amount  of 
his  salary ;  paying  the  sexton  for  ringing  the  church 
bell  at  eleven  and  nine  o'clock  each  working  day  and  at 
an  alarm  of  fire ;  letting  the  town  land ;  cleaning  the 
town  wells  ;  arranging  taxes  and  appointing  assessors ; 
receiving  and  considering  petitions  ;  determining  "  some 
Method  to  prevent  negroes  keeping  Hogs,"  and  devis 
ing  "  some  method  to  prevent  the  firing  of  Chimneys." 
As  the  villages  within  the  towns  grew  into  cities  and 
the  petty  details  of  administration  increased,  the  town 
meeting  began  gradually  to  pave  the  way  for  modern 
representative  government  by  entrusting  certain  tasks  to 
elected  officers.  In  addition  to  the  selectmen,  there 
were  chosen  overseers  of  the  poor,  a  county  register  and 
treasurer,  wardens,  fire-wards,  town  treasurer,  "clercks 
of  the  markets,"  constables,  collectors  of  taxes,  sur 
veyors  of  boards,  fence  viewers,  sealers  of  leather, 
informers  of  deer,  cullers  of  staves,  hog-reeves,  haywards, 
scavengers,  surveyors  of  wheat,  assay  masters,  keepers 
of  the  granary,  and  surveyors  of  highways. 

1  The  Town  Records  of  Boston  have  been  fully  reprinted  and  are  to  be 
found  in  any  general  library.  Those  for  many  other  towns  have  been 
reprinted  in  part. 


SAMUEL  ADAMS  49 

Among  these  petty  officials  of  Boston  as  well  as  on 
the  rolls  of  more  important  places,  one  finds  frequently 
the  name  of  the  elder  Samuel  Adams.  He  was  always 
an  anti-government  man,  noted  for  his  quarrels  with  the 
royal  governor,  and  for  his  leadership  among  the  com 
mon  people.  Although  a  maltster  by  occupation,  his 
political  efforts  placed  him  at  the  head  of  the  caulkers' 
club,  organized  among  the  shipyard  and  seafaring 
people,  from  which  the  word  "caucus"  is  said  to  be 
derived.  His  obituary  notice  in  the  Boston  Gazette  of 
March,  1748,  marks  him  as  "  one  who  well  understood 
and  rightly  pursued  the  civil  and  religious  interests  of  the 
people;  a  true  New  England  Man;  an  honest  Patriot." 
As  such  he  had  been  rejected  by  the  royal  governor  of 
Massachusetts  when  the  Assembly  by  a  large  vote  had 
chosen  him  to  the  governor's  council. 

If  anything  further  than  this  example  were  needed  to 
make  the  younger  Samuel  Adams  a  non-government 
man,  it  came  after  his  father's  death  when  the  sheriff 
seized  upon  the  remnant  of  the  once  large  brewing 
plant  to  satisfy  claimants  on  a  "  land  "  bank  of  which 
his  father  had  been  director.  The  issuance  by  the 
bank  of  notes  as  paper  money  had  been  stopped  by  the 
king  because  they  depreciated  in  value  and  disturbed 
the  colonial  finances.  The  action  had  been  thought 
unjust  by  many  at  the  time ;  and  now  when  the  holders 
of  the  old  claims  turned  to  the  law,  Samuel  Adams 
initiated  his  later  Revolutionary  tactics  by  appearing  at 
the  sale  and  browbeating  the  sheriff  and  intending  pur 
chasers.  Thus  he  saved  his  property,  and  a  later  act  of 
Assembly  outlawed  the  bank  claims.  However,  royal 
government  in  the  colonies  had  made  a  mortal  enemy. 


50  THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

Samuel  Adams  first  appears  in  the  records  of  the 
Boston  town  meetings  in  1753,  as  shown  in  the  extract 
at  the  head  of  this  chapter.  In  the  humble  offices  of 
school  examiner  and  of  scavenger, 1  he  began  that 
career  which  eventually  earned  for  him  the  title  of  "  the 
man  of  the  town  meeting."  Perhaps  so  early  as  this 
he  realized  what  a  powerful  political  engine  the  town 
meeting  could  be  made.  It  was  the  voice  of  popular 
will.  It  had  been  heard  when  Grenville's  policy 
threatened  the  colonies  with  perpetual  taxation,  and  it 
had  rejoiced  when  the  Stamp  Act  was  repealed.  Now 
when  it  was  found  that  taxation  was  to  be  renewed 
quietly  in  the  Townshend  Acts,  Samuel  Adams  devoted 
his  time  to  keeping  the  public  aroused  and  the  feeling 
of  resistance  alive  through  the  medium  of  the  town 
meeting. 

The  result  was  disastrous  to  him  financially.  While 
other  men  were  in  the  counting  room  or  in  the  fac 
tory,  this  indifferent  maltster  was  at  the  shipyards  or  at 
the  ropewalks  talking  politics.  His  father,  despairing 
of  the  hope  of  a  clergyman's  career  for  Samuel, 
had  given  him  ;£iooo  to  embark  in  business  just 
after  he  was  graduated  from  Harvard.  The  business 
soon  failed.  After  his  father's  death,  the  son  continued 
the  brewing  business  near  Bull  Wharf  at  the  lower  end 
of  Summer  street ;  but  the  property  faded  away  until 
all  was  lost  save  the  adjacent  residence  on  Purchase 
street.  A  companion  declared  that  "  his  time  is  all 
employed  in  public  service."  The  people  were  grateful. 
They  repaired  his  dwelling,  built  him  a  new  barn,  and  at 

1  The  duties  of  scavenger  were  much  like  those  of  a  health  officer  of 
the  present  day. 


SAMUEL   ADAMS  51 

one  time  fitted  him  with  an  entire  new  wardrobe  from 
wig  to  shoes  and  silver  shoe  buckles,  and  placed  in  his 
pocket  fifteen  or  twenty  Johannes.1 

For  many  years  he  was  dependent  upon  his  ,£100 
salary  as  the  clerk  of  the  Massachusetts  Assembly. 
Yet  Governor  Hutchinson  testified  that  "  such  is  the 
obstinacy  and  inflexible  disposition  of  the  man  that 
he  never  would  be  conciliated  by  any  office  or  gift 
whatever."  The  governor  also  said  that  "  his  chief 
dependency  is  the  town  meeting  in  Boston,  where  he 
originates  the  measures  which  are  followed  by  the  rest 
of  the  towns."  Because  of  his  activity  in  drawing  up 
resolutions  and  instructions,  in  serving  on  protesting 
committees,  and  in  presiding  over  and  addressing  town 
meetings,  the  governor  dubbed  him  "the  chief  incen 
diary  of  the  province,"  "  the  Master  of  the  Puppets," 
and  the  "  all  in  all." 

The  first  Monday  in  November,  1772,  Samuel  Adams 
arose  in  a  town  meeting  to  move  the  appointment  of  a 
committee  to  correspond  with  the  committees  of  other 
towns  so  that  the  danger  of  one  might  become  the  con 
cern  of  all.  The  plan  dated  back  in  England  to  the 
Stuart  troubles.  The  suggestion  for  such  committees 
had  come  spontaneously  from  various  parts  of  the  colo- 


1  Wells's   "  Life   and   Public   Services   of  Samuel  Adams,"   Vol.   II., 
pp.  207-212. 

2  The  arguments  of  the  several  claimants  to  the  honor  of  originating 
the  committees  of  correspondence  are  set  forth  in  Wells's  "  Samuel  Adams," 
Vol.  I.,  pp.  496-497;    in   Wirt's  "Patrick  Henry,"  p.  105;    in  Tucker's 
"Jefferson,"  Vol.  I.,  pp.  52-55;   in  Randall's  "Jefferson,"  Vol.  I.,  pp.  78- 
81,  and  in  the  North  American  Review  for  March,  1818.     A  good  claim 
is  also  made  for  the  New  York  Assembly  by  Dawson  in  his  "  Sons  of 
Liberty." 


52  THE  MEN  WHO  MADE   THE  NATION 

general  agency.  The  scheme  was  destined  to  become  a 
powerful  part  of  the  Revolutionary  machinery,  although 
small  at  first.  Daniel  Leonard  denounced  the  idea  as 
"  the  foulest,  subtlest,  and  most  venomous  serpent  ever 
issued  from  the  egg  of  sedition.  I  saw,"  said  he,  "  the 
small  seed  when  it  was  planted ;  it  was  a  grain  of  mus 
tard.  I  have  watched  the  plant  until  it  has  become  a 
great  tree."  John  Adams  afterward  asked,1  "  Did  not 
every  colony,  nay,  every  county,  city,  hundred,  and  town, 
upon  the  whole  continent,  adopt  the  measure,  I  had 
almost  said,  as  if  it  had  been  a  revelation  from  above, 
as  the  happiest  means  of  cementing  the  union  and  acting 
in  concert  ? "  There  was  soon  a  network  of  communi 
cation  over  what  before  had  been  isolated  colonies. 

When  the  Townshend  measures  were  passed,  Samuel 
Adams  remembered  the  effect  of  the  agreement  not  to 
import  goods  from  England  in  1765.  It  had  largely 
caused  the  repeal  of  the  Stamp  Act.  But  it  was  diffi 
cult  to  revive  and  to  keep  alive  such  "associations." 
Importers  who  signed  an  agreement  not  to  bring  over 
any  more  goods  from  England  virtually  committed  busi 
ness  suicide.  The  reward  of  a  clear  conscience  was 
likely  to  prove  a  poor  return  to  most  men  for  the  ruin 
of  their  fortunes  and  the  impending  poverty  of  their 
children.  When  the  merchants  of  Philadelphia,  for 
instance,  refused  to  bid  on  making  uniforms  for  the 
royal  troops,  a  merchant  of  New  York  broke  the  agree 
ment  and  made  a  handsome  profit  from  the  contract. 
The  Boston  traders  were  better  kept  in  line  through  the 
watchfulness  of  Samuel  Adams  and  his  fellows.  When 

1  "  Works  of  John  Adams,"  Vol.  IV.,  p.  34. 


SAMUEL  ADAMS 


53 


persuasion  failed,  harsher  measures  were  resorted  to.    In 

timidating  handbills  were  circulated,  begging  all  patriots 

not     to     patronize 

the  offending  firm, 

or  a  post  bearing  a 

pointing  hand  was 

erected  in  front  of 

the  obstinate  mer 

chant's  door. 

In  many  of  the 
newspapers  of  New 
England,  there  ap 
peared  poetry  in 
tended  to  encour 
age  the  people  in 
economizing  and  in 


using  home  manu 
factures. 


an  IMPORTER;*,    the 
BRAZEN  HEAD, 

North  Side  of  the  TOWN-HOUSE, 
and  Oppcifitc  tJx    Town-Pump,  in 
Corn-hill,    BOSTON. 


It  is  defircd  that  the  Soxs  and 
DAUGHTERS  of  LIBERTr, 
would  not  buy  anyone  thing  of 
him,  for  in  fo  doing  they  will  bring 
Difgraoc  ujx>n  tbcwfcfas*  and  their 
Poflcnty\  for  ever  and  ever,  AMEN 


"Ladies,  throw  aside  your  topknots  of  pride, 
Wear  none  but  your  own  country's  linen ; 
Of  economy  boast,  let  your  pride  be  the  most, 
To  show  clothes  of  your  own  make  and  spinning. 
As  one  all  agree  that  you1!!  not  married  be 
To  such  as  will  wear  London  factory ; 
But  at  once  refuse,  tell  'em  such  you  will  choose 
As  encourage  our  own  manufactory."1 

Newspapers'  also  made  favorable  mention  of  such  in 
stances  as  a  family  in  Rhode  Island  which  knitted  387 
pairs  of  stockings  in  eighteen  months.  A  class  was 
graduated  from  Harvard  College  in  clothing  made  in 

1  From  the  Boston  Post.  For  other  specimens  of  Revolutionary  com 
position  see  Tyler's  "  Literary  History  of  the  American  Revolution,"  and 
Moore's  "  Songs  and  Ballads  of  the  Revolution." 


54     THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

America  and  hence  known  as  "  homespun."  Some 
agreements  included  the  killing  of  sheep  sparingly,  the 
discouraging  of  horse-racing  and  all  kinds  of  gaming, 
cock-fighting,  "exhibition  of  shews,"  etc.  No  mourn 
ing  was  to  be  allowed  beyond  black  crape  or  a  ribbon  on 
the  arm  or  a  black  ribbon  or  necklace  for  women. 
No  more  gloves  nor  "  scarves "  were  to  be  given  at 
funerals. 

Whether  these  associations  or  the  local  political  clubs 
formed  the  basis  of  certain  Revolutionary  organizations 
which  now  sprang  up  is  uncertain.  Some  writers  de 
rive  the  term  "  Sons  of  Liberty "  from  a  speech  in 
Parliament  by  Col.  Isaac  Barre.  The  term  had  long 
been  used  to  denote  a  man  opposed  to  any  extension  of 
the  power  of  royal  government.  "  Sons  of  Liberty " 
or  "  Liberty  Boys  "  had  been  organized  in  New  York 
City  among  the  lawyers  during  a  contest  with  a  royal 
governor  as  early  as  1744.  The  name  had  been  used  to 
denote  the  colonists  who  fell  in  the  French-Indian 
wars.  During  the  Stamp  Act  excitement  there  ap 
peared  "an  excellent  NEW  SONG  for  the  SONS  OF  LIB 
ERTY  in  New  York ! "  One  of  the  thirteen  stanzas 
runs: 

"  With  the  Beasts  of  the  Woods,  We  will  ramble  for  Food 
And  lodge  in  wild  Desarts  and  Caves 
And  live  Poor  as  Job,  on  the  Skirts  of  the  Globe, 
Before  well  submit  to  be  SLAVES." 

John  Dickinson  was  the  reputed  author  of  anothel 
"  liberty  song  "  beginning  : 

"Come  join  hand  in  hand,  brave  Americans  all 
And  rouse  your  bold  hearts  at  fair  Liberty's  call." 


SAMUEL   ADAMS  55 

Branches  of  the  Sons  of  Liberty  were  in  operation 
from  New  Hampshire  to  South  Carolina,  but  little 
is  known  of  them.  They  were  the  unknown  agents 
whenever  protest  had  to  be  supplemented  by  force. 
"  Liberty  Boys  "  and  "  Mohawks  "  were  closely  allied 
whether  stamps  or  tea  had  to  be  destroyed.  Their 
membership  was  composed  of  men  of  a  lower  social 
class  than  the  final  leaders  of  the  Revolution.  Barring 
Samuel  Chase  of  Maryland,  scarcely  one  of  them  made 
a  place  for  himself.  Samuel  Adams  seems  to  have  been 
in  close  touch  with  the  organization  in  Boston  and  joined 
in  the  invitation  to  John  Adams  to  attend  their  meet 
ings.  The  latter  drew  up  several  papers  for  them  and 
in  his  Diary  has  left  a  description  of  a  visit  to  their 
place  of  meeting  in  Hanover  square. 

"  It  is  a  counting-room  in  Chase  and  Speakman's  distillery  ; 
a  very  small  room  it  is.  John  Avery,  distiller  or  merchant,  of 
a  liberal  education,  John  Smith,  the  brazier,  Thomas  Crafts, 
the  painter,  Edes,  the  printer,  Stephen  Cleverly,  the  brazier, 
Chase,  the  distiller,  Joseph  Field,  master  of  a  vessel,  Henry 
Bass,  George  Trott,  jeweller,  were  present.  I  was  invited  by 
Crafts  and  Trott  to  go  and  spend  an  evening  with  them  and 
some  others.  Avery  was  mentioned  to  me  as  one.  I  went, 
and  was  very  civilly  and  respectfully  treated  by  all  present. 
We  had  punch,  wines,  pipes  and  tobacco,  biscuit  and  cheese, 
&c.  I  heard  nothing  but  such  conversation  as  passes  at  all 
clubs,  among  gentlemen,  about  the  times.  No  plots,  no 
machinations." l 

The  Sons  of  Liberty  in  different  communities  erected 
"liberty  poles."  At  Providence,  Rhode  Island,  they  re 
solved  :  "  We  do  therefore,  in  the  name  and  behalf  of  all 

1  "Works  of  John  Adams,"  Vol.  II.,  p.  178. 


56  THE  MEN  WHO  MADE   THE  NATION 

true  Sons  of  Liberty  in  America,  Great  Britain,  Ireland, 
Corsica,  or  wheresoever  they  are  dispersed  throughout 
the  world,  dedicate  and  solemnly  devote  this  tree  to  be 
a  Tree  of  Liberty."  Their  pole  in  the  square  at  New 
York  was  cut  down  four  times  by  the  king's  troops ;  but 
they  purchased  a  plot  of  ground  and  then  triumphantly 
erected  a  fifth.  When  a  Maryland  patriot's  house  was 
burned,  the  Sons  of  Liberty  rebuilt  it.  They  must  have 
exercised  no  small  power  in  the  local  elections. 

Daughters  of  Liberty  also  came  into  existence.  They 
usually  assembled  to  knit  or  sew  during  the  afternoons, 
and  to  serve  tea  to  the  Sons  of  Liberty  who  came  in  the 
evening.  Then  all  "blended  their  voices"  in  liberty 
songs.1 

In  one  of  the  contests  of  the  New  York  Sons  of  Lib 
erty  with  the  1 4th  regiment  over  the  liberty  pole,  a 
citizen  was  killed  and  four  others,  besides  a  sailor, 
severely  wounded.  If  such  a  contest  arose  in  a  city 
which  was  the  military  headquarters  of  America  and 
whose  people  were  accustomed  to  the  petty  irritation  of 
troops  in  their  midst,  what  might  be  expected  in  Boston 
when  two  and  a  half  regiments  of  regulars  landed  at  the 
Long  Wharf  and  marched  up  to  the  Common.  They 
were  the  I4th,  29th,  and  part  of  the  59th  regiments  from 

1  One  of  the  best-known  "  liberty  songs,"  supposed  t'o  have  been 
written  by  Thomas  Paine,  began : 

"  In  a  chariot  of  light  from  the  regions  of  day 

The  Goddess  of  Liberty  came; 
Ten  thousand  celestials  directed  the  way, 

And  hither  conducted  the  dame. 
A  fair  budding  branch  from  the  gardens  above, 

Where  millions  with  millions  agree, 
She  brought  in  her  hand  as  a  pledge  of  her  love, 
And  the  plant  she  named  Liberty  Tree." 


SAMUEL  ADAMS  57 

Halifax,  and  were  increased  later  by  two  regiments  from 
Ireland.  When  the  Bostonians  first  heard  of  the  com 
ing  of  these  troops,  they  threatened  to  resist  and  placed 
a  tar  or  turpentine  barrel  on  Beacon  Hill  to  summon 
the  country  people  to  their  aid  when  the  troops  should 
arrive.  But  calmer  counsels  prevailed.  America  had 
resisted  the  imposition  of  a  tax,  the  proceeds  of  which 
might  have  been  used  for  imposing  a  standing  army 
on  them.  Regardless  of  this  fact,  the  army  was  to  be 
imposed  and  Grenville's  policy  pursued,  although  by 
another  administration. 

Many  conservative  people  even  in  America  felt  that 
the  Bostonians  had  brought  these  troops  on  themselves 
by  the  riot  which  followed  the  seizure  of  the  sloop 
Liberty  belonging  to  the  popular  young  John  Hancock. 
As  was  frequently  done,  the  captain  had  made  a  false 
entry  and  so  smuggled  in  some  Madeira  wine.  Upon 
news  of  the  seizure,  the  mob  beat  the  customs  officials, 
attacked  their  houses,  and  dragged  one  of  their  boats 
through  the  streets  and  then  burned  it.  The  commis 
sioners  of  customs  fled  for  their  lives  to  the  castle  in 
the  harbor.  Another  customs  officer  was  tarred  and 
feathered  at  a  later  time.  Riots  accompanied  the  cele 
bration  of  the  anniversary  of  the  repeal  of  the  Stamp 
Act.  It  seemed  high  time  to  bring  the  Boston  people 
to  their  senses. 

When  the  troops  arrived,  the  obstinate  town  would 
provide  them  with  no  quarters.  The  selectmen  insisted 
that  they  should  be  quartered  in  the  castle  three  miles 
down  the  harbor.  A  part  of  the  troops  were  therefore 
placed  in  tents  on  the  Common,  and  a  part  forced 
entrance  to  the  State  House  and  found  lodgings  there. 


58  THE  MEN"  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

Later,  Governor  Gage  arrived  from  New  York  and  with 
difficulty  rented  quarters,  but  at  the  expense  of  the  crown. 
The  commissary  met  the  same  difficulty  in  purchas 
ing  provisions  from  the  stubborn  merchants.  Children 
scoffed  at  the  soldiers  on  the  streets,  calling  them  "  lob 
sters  "  and  "bloody-backs."  The  officers,  traditionally 
accustomed  to  a  pleasant  reception  in  colonial  society, 
found  themselves  social  pariahs  in  Boston. 

The  Bostonians  looked  upon  the  soldiers  as  hirelings 
sent  for  their  subjugation ;  as  "  fit  instruments  to  serve 
the  wrath  of  ministerial  vengeance."  Complaint  was 
made  that  the  quiet  of  the  Lord's  day  was  broken  by 
the  marching  of  the  troops  and  that  the  soldiers  looted 
private  dwellings.1  On  the  other  hand,  the  soldiers 
complained  that  their  barracks  had  become  a  refuge  for 
good  citizens  mistreated  at  the  hands  of  the  mobs.  The 
officers  were  annoyed  by  being  stopped  and  questioned 
by  the  town  night-watch  if  they  chanced  to  be  out  after 
midnight.  They  regarded  with  suspicion  the  vote  of  the 
town  meeting  that  every  "listed  soldier"  in  the  town 
"shall  always  be  provided  with  a  well-fixed  firelock 
musket,  accoutrements  and  ammunition,"  although  the 
fear  of  a  French  invasion  was  given  as  the  excuse. 
Both  sides  were  ripe  for  a  conflict. 

Three  of  the  five  regiments  had  been  sent  away  before 
1770,  but  encounters  between  the  remaining  soldiers  and 
individual  citizens  grew  more  frequent  during  the  earlier 
part  of  that  year.  One  day  a  few  soldiers  visited  one 
of  the  ropewalks,  and  some  rough  words  led  to  a  fight 

1  In  an  "  Essay  on  Manners,"  published  in  1787,  Noah  Webster  added 
as  a  grievance  that  the  language  used  by  the  regular  troops  in  Boston 
tended  to  corrupt  the  purity  of  the  English  spoken  in  that  city. 


SAMUEL   ADAMS  59 

with  sticks  and  cutlasses  between  them  and  the  rope- 
makers.  Three  nights  later,  March  5,  1770,  the  streets 
were  alive  with  excited  men  and  boys  expecting  a 
renewal  of  the  contest.  For  some  reason,  the  alarm 
bell  was  rung  and  the  crowd  increased.  Numbers  sur 
rounded  the  guardhouse  in  King  street  opposite  the 
State  House.  Farther  up  the  street  a  boy  pointed  out 
a  sentry  in  front  of  the  Custom  House  as  the  one  who 
had  knocked  him  down.  As  the  angry  crowd  sur 
rounded  the  startled  soldier,  throwing  snowballs  and 
bits  of  ice  at  him,  he  ran  up  the  steps  of  the  Custom 
House  and  called  for  help.  Captain  Preston  and  a 
squad  ran  over  from  the  guardhouse  with  fixed  bayo 
nets  to  clear  the  street.  Clubs  and  bayonets  began  to 
be  used  freely,  and,  with  or  without  orders,  a  volley  was 
fired.  Crispus  Attucks,  a  mulatto  slave  or  half-breed 
Indian,  James  Caldwell,  a  sailor,  Samuel  Gray,  and 
Samuel  Maverick  lay  dead  in  the  street.  Patrick  Carr 
had  received  wounds  of  which  he  died  later.  Six  others, 
mostly  young  men,  were  wounded.  Attucks  and  Cald 
well  were  strangers  in  Boston  and  were  given  a  public 
funeral  from  Faneuil  Hall.  The  others  were  buried 
from  the  homes  of  relatives.  It  was  estimated  that 
twenty  thousand  people  attended. 

After  the  firing,  the  cooler  heads  with  great  difficulty 
persuaded  the  enraged  people  to  disperse  instead  of  at 
once  destroying  the  offending  soldiers.  By  three  o'clock 
in  the  morning,  Captain  Preston  and  his  squad  were  in 
the  town  jail,  the  night-watches  about  the  streets  had 
been  doubled,  and  the  excitement  gradually  subsided. 
The  next  day  a  town  meeting  in  the  Old  South  Meeting 
House  sent  two  committees  consecutively  to  Lieutenant- 


60  THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

governor  Hutchinson,  demanding  the  removal  of  the 
troops.  When  that  official  consented  to  send  away  the 
regiment  to  which  the  prisoners  belonged,  the  crowd  in 
the  street  raised  the  cry  which  Adams  had  taught  them, 
"  Both  regiments  or  none,"  and  a  fortnight  later,  the  last 
boatload  of  what  Hutchinson  aptly  called  "  Sam  Adams's 
regiments  "  l  was  rowed  away  to  the  castle  in  the  harbor, 
and  the  colonists  had  scored  another  victory. 

The  law-abiding  sense  of  the  people  soon  returned. 
Seven  months  were  allowed  for  the  cooling  of  passions 
before  the  prisoners  came  to  trial.  Captain  Preston 
issued  a  card  of  thanks  from  the  jail  appreciative  of 
his  treatment.  The  prisoners  had  good  counsel,2  and  all 
were  discharged  except  two,  who  were  branded  in  the 
hand.  The  verdict  was  received  with  general  applause, 
above  which  could  be  heard  the  cry  of  Samuel  Adams, 
who  demanded  blood  for  blood.  The  entire  incident 
was  small,  similar  affrays  occurred  in  other  places,  but 
blood  had  flowed  in  Boston  because  of  British  regulars 
who  would  not  have  been  there  except  for  the  desire  of 
government  to  coerce  the  colonists  into  subserviency. 
This  was  the  feeling  which  prompted  the  Bostonians  to 
raise  a  monument  to  the  victims  of  what  they  have 
always  called  the  "  Boston  Massacre." 

Stories  of  the  encounter  were  copied  from  the  Boston 
newspapers  and  circulated  through  the  reading  colonial 
world,  thus  giving  that  city  a  prominence  and  inviting 
the  sympathy  which  was  presently  to  rally  the  continent 
to  her  relief.  The  slaughter  of  men  in  the  streets  of 

1  See  Hosmer's  "  Samuel  Adams,"  p.  169.     Wells,  Vol.  L,  p.  326. 

2  John  Adams  and  Josiah  Quincy.     Adams  said  he  felt  evidences  of 
the  unpopularity  of  his  action  for  years  afterward,   and  Quincy's  father 
violently  remonstrated  against  his  son  undertaking  the  case. 


SAMUEL  ADAMS  6 1 

a  city  had  an  ugly  appearance  which  members  of  the 
opposition  failed  not  to  use  when  the  news  reached 
Parliament.  They  had  already  said  to  the  ministry,  "If 
you  mean  to  govern  the  country  by  military  force  you 
have  not  sent  enough ;  if  you  intend  to  continue  civil 
government,  you  have  sent  too  many."  Now  they 
found  the  ministry  "shy  and  tender"  and  inclined  to 
get  rid  of  the  troublesome  topic.  Lord  North  1  sat  silent 
under  the  criticisms  heaped  upon  him  and  quickly  moved 
an  adjournment.  No  doubt  he  felt  the  advantage  likely 
to  accrue  from  this  unfortunate  affair  to  the  gigantic 
cabal  which  Samuel  Adams  was  forming  all  through 
the  colonies  by  his  Revolutionary  machinery  and  in  Bos 
ton  by  the  magnetism  of  his  personality. 

Perhaps  the  most  fortunate  convert  which  he  gained 
for  the  colonial  cause  was  his  second  cousin,  a  young 
lawyer,  named  John  Adams,  who  had  removed  from 
Braintree  to  Boston.  He  proved  the  truth  of  the  saying 
that  those  men  who  examine  well  and  choose  deliber 
ately  the  side  which  they  will  take  make  the  most 
lasting  patriots.2  The  conservatism  of  the  younger  man 
was  at  times  a  severe  trial  to  Samuel  Adams,  but  the 
two  soon  became  known  as  the  par  fratrum,  and  John 
Adams  confesses  that  they  employed  even  the  Sabbath 
in  "working  the  political  machine."  The  royal  gov 
ernor  of  their  colony  assured  the  British  government  that 
the  feeling  in  Boston  would  speedily  subside  "  if  it  were 
not  for  two  or  three  Adamses.  I  don't  know  how  to 

1  George  Grenville  was  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer  from  1763  to  1765. 
Charles  Townshend  occupied  the  office  during  a  portion  of  1767.     He  was 
followed  by  Lord  North,  who  became  also  Prime  Minister  in  1770.     His 
administration  lasted  until  1783. 

2  "  Works  of  John  Adams,"  Vol.  II.,  pp.  298-302. 


62  THE  MEN  WHO  MADE   THE  NATION 

account  for  the  obstinacy  of  one  [probably  John]  who 
seemed  to  me  when  he  began  life  to  promise  well.  The 
other  [presumably  Samuel]  never  appeared  different 
from  what  he  does  at  present  and,  I  fear,  never  will."  l 
Far  more  important  to  the  outside  world  was  the 
winning  of  Col.  John  Hancock.  Two  John  Hancocks 
had  been  pastors  at  Lexington,  Massachusetts,  but  the 
third  of  that  name  imbibed  a  commercial  taste  in  the 
adopted  home  of  his  wealthy  uncle  in  Boston.  As  a 
graduate  of  Harvard,  a  visitor  at  the  coronation  of 
George  III.,  the  heir  of  his  uncle's  fortune  of  ,£75,000 
and  the  great  importing  business,  young  Hancock  was 
the  most  conspicuous  figure  in  pre-Revolutionary  Boston. 
His  aunt,  known  as  Madame  Hancock,  presided  over  his 
magnificent  home  until  his  marriage  to  Dorothy  Quincy. 
His  ships  sailed  on  many  seas,  bringing  into  Boston 
"oyles,  cheese,  Russia  duck,  lemons,  etc.  "2  At  twenty- 
eight  he  was  chosen  selectman  by  a  town  meeting. 
When  the  Stamp  Act  was  repealed,  his  house  was 
brilliantly  illuminated,  and  he  broached  a  pipe  of  wine 
for  the  crowd.  When  the  Sons  of  Liberty  indulged 
in  a  dinner  at  Dorchester  and  marched  back  to  town 
in  the  evening,  the  wealthy  Hancock  rode  ahead  in  a 
chariot.  As  colonel  of  the  Boston  Cadets,  and  the 
donor  of  windows  and  bells  to  churches,  and  a  fire- 
engine  to  the  city,  his  influence  was  extensive,  although 
a  certain  haughtiness  at  times  injured  his  popularity. 
He  risked  his  property  and  reputation  when  he  began  to 
fall  in  with  the  plans  of  Samuel  Adams  and  the  patriot 

1  Wells's  "  Life  of  Samuel  Adams,"  Vol.  I.,  p.  379. 

2  Brown's  "  Life  of  John  Hancock,"  p.  77.     "  Works  of  John  Adams," 
Vol.  II.,  p.  300. 


SAMUEL  ADAMS 


party.  Government  men  ridiculed  him  as  "Johnny 
Dupe,"  insinuated  that  he  was  led  about  by  Adams,  and 
coined  the  saying,  "  Adams  does  the  writing,  and  Han 
cock  pays  the  postage."  Soon  the  two  were  denounced 


The  Hon.  Tboma$  Gffgf,  Efq; 

Governor,  and  Commaoder  in  Chief   in    ami    «wr  hi*  M*jcfy"»  Pw^ace  rf  Maflkhufettt-Bay,   * 

Vice  Admiral  of  the  lame, 

A  PROCLAMATION. 

| 


as  primi  conscripti,  and  were  eventually  singled  out  by 
Gage  in  his  proclamation  as  exempt  from  pardon.1 

Samuel  Adams  also  influenced  two  other  young  men 
of  Boston :  Dr.  Joseph  Warren,  who  fell  at  Bunker 

1  When  General  Gage  issued  a  proclamation,  the  hea.d  of  which  is  shown 
in  the  accompanying  cut,  proclaiming  pardon  to  all  except  Adams  and  Han 
cock,  Jonathan  Trumbull  wrote  a  burlesque  upon  it  which  appeared  in  the 
Connecticut  Courant  in  1775.  The  following  is  an  extract: 

"Those  who  in  peace  will  henceforth  live 
I  and  His  Majesty  forgive; 
All  but  that  arch-rogue  and  first  grand  cock, 
Your  Samuel  Adams  and  John  Hancock, 
Whose  crimes  are  grown  to  that  degree 
I  must  hang  them  —  or  they'll  hang  me." 


64  THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

Hill,  when  only  thirty-three  years  of  age,  and  Josiah 
Quincy,  the  brilliant  lawyer,  whose  services  were  lost 
to  the  cause  by  his  untimely  death  at  the  age  of 
thirty.  Nearer  the  age  of  Adams  were  his  confreres, 
Thomas  Gushing,  who  could  obtain  valuable  information 
for  the  patriots,  Robert  Treat  Paine,  a  preacher-lawyer, 
and  James  Bowdoin,  the  scientific  friend  of  Franklin, 
whose  wealth  almost  equalled  that  of  Hancock. 

In  the  bungling  methods  which  marked  the  adminis 
tration  of  the  colonies,  Lord  Hillsborough1  had  written 
to  the  governor  of  Virginia  assuring  him  that  the  Par 
liament  of  1770  would  certainly  repeal  the  obnoxious 
Townshend  measures.  When  the  session  began,  there 
was  not  a  petition  from  the  sullen  colonists  and  but 
one  from  the  British  merchants.  However,  Lord 
North,  committed  to  action  by  the  Hillsborough  letter, 
moved  the  repeal  of  all  the  Townshend  taxes  save  that 
on  tea.  The  importation  of  tea  in  the  colonies  had  fallen 
between  1768  and  1769  from  £  13  2,000  to  ,£44,000. 
The  Americans  drank  tea  made  of  dried  mullein,  catnip, 
balm,  sage,  and  raspberry  leaves.  But  it  was  necessary 
to  retain  one  article  of  the  Townshend  Act  for  the 
preamble,  which  asserted  the  right  of  "  defraying  the 
expenses  of  defending,  protecting,  and  securing  "  the  col 
onies.  The  opposition  showed  that  the  income  from  the 
tax  on  tea  would  amount  to  less  than  ,£7000  per  annum 
and  that  it  was  simply  a  device  for  persisting  in  the 
policy  of  taxing  America. 

The  action  was  most  unfortunate.  It  was  a  conces 
sion  to  the  colonies,  but  not  a  complete  concession.  It 
showed  the  weakness  of  administration  without  remov- 

1  He  was  secretary  of  state  for  the  colonies. 


SAMUEL  ADAMS  65 

ing  wholly  the  cause  of  complaint.  It  was  denounced 
in  Parliament  as  "  doing  and  undoing,  menacing  and 
submitting,  straining  and  relaxing."  Franklin  simply 
observed  that  it  was  bad  surgery  to  leave  splinters  in  a 
wound  which  must  prevent  its  healing  or  in  time  cause  it 
to  open  afresh.  The  colonists  rebuked  this  "  preamble," 
or  "  preambulatory  "  tax  as  they  called  it,  by  banishing 
England's  tea  more  rigidly  than  ever.  They  compared 
the  tea  to  a  plague  and  said  if  a  ship  should  bring  in 
that  dreadful  malady  nobody  would  doubt  what  was  to 
be  done ;  and  that  the  present  case  was  much  worse. 
Newspapers  gave  up  their  columns  to  appeals  to  the 
people  not  to  use  tea  imported  by  the  East  India  Com 
pany.  Poetry  and  acrostics  were  added  to  keep  the 
public  mind  aroused. 

"To  save     T  heir  Country  dooirTd  by  Fate 
E  xclud       E  the  Drink  of  baneful  T— , 
A  nd  bear  A  Part  in  Deeds  so  great." 

The  East  India  Tea  Company,  perhaps  the  greatest 
of  the  many  monopolies  which  controlled  England's 
policy  at  this  time,  soon  felt  the  result  of  this  refusal  to 
use  their  product.  Their  complaints  about  the  decrease 
of  the  consumption  of  tea  in  America  arose  to  a  clamor. 
In  1773,  the  company  had  seventeen  million  pounds  of 
tea  moulding  in  its  warehouses.  Its  stock  fell  to  120 
per  cent,  and  it  could  not  pay  the  .£400,000  due  to  the 
government  annually  for  the  privileges  it  enjoyed.  In 
stead  the  government  had  to  advance  it  four  times  that 
sum.  The  customs  receipts  had  fallen  in  1772  to  £80 
after  paying  the  cost  of  collection  and  the  expenses  of 
coast  guards.  Something  must  be  done.  Lord  North 


66  THE  MEN  WHO  MADE   THE  NATION 

yielded  to  the  company's  clamor  for  a  license  to  appoint 
consignees  in  the  colonies  to  whom  tea  could  be  shipped 
for  sale.  This  foolish  step  immediately  alarmed  the 
American  merchants  lest  the  great  monopoly  should 
get  a  foothold  in  America.  Tea  was  to  be  forced  upon 
the  colonists,  whether  they  ordered  it  or  not. 

Lord  North  tried  to  remove  the  sting  from  the  meas 
ure  by  providing  a  drawback  or  rebate  of  twelvepence  a 
pound  to  be  paid  to  the  company  as  the  tea  left  England 
en  route  for  America.  Yet,  to  keep  up  the  form  of  taxa 
tion,  it  was  to  pay  threepence  as  it  entered  America. 
The  company  foresaw  the  result  and  begged  that  the 
threepence  be  collected  as  the  tea  left  England.  But 
that  would  be  giving  up  the  tax.  North  was  persistent 
for  American  collection,  claiming  that  the  colonists 
because  of  the  drawback  could  buy  tea  cheaper  than 
the  people  of  England  could  and  that  they  would  yield 
to  such  mercenary  inducements. 

When  the  news  of  this  new  action  of  Parliament 
reached  Boston,  Samuel  Adams  voiced  the  sentiments 
of  America  in  the  phrase,  "  We  are  not  contesting  for 
pence  but  for  principles."  Everywhere  quiet  prepara 
tions  went  on  to  prevent  the  landing  of  the  tea.  Several 
numbers  of  an  extra  paper  called  the  Alarm  circu 
lated  in  Massachusetts.  The  men  who  had  consented 
to  act  as  consignees  for  receiving  the  tea  were  compelled 
to  swear  not  to  execute  their  offices,  as  the  stamp  agents 
had  been  eight  years  before.  In  riotous  Boston,  after 
their  houses  had  been  wrecked,  they  fled  for  protection 
to  the  castle  in  the  harbor.  The  "  Committee  on  tarring 
and  feathering  "  in  quiet  Philadelphia  sent  notice  to  the 
Delaware  river  pilots  warning  them  not  to  bring  the 


SAMUEL  ADAMS  67 

Polly,  a  tea  ship,  up  the  river.  To  the  captain  of  the 
vessel  they  wrote  :  "  What  think  you  Captain  of  a  Halter 
around  your  Neck  .  .  .  ten  gallons  of  liquid  tar  decanted 
on  your  Pate  .  .  .  with  the  Feathers  of  a  dozen  wild 
Geese  laid  on  that  to  enliven  your  Appearance  ?  " 

November  28,  1773,  Captain  Hall,  of  the  ship  Dart 
mouth  from  England,  reached  the  Long  Wharf  in  Boston 
and  was  confronted  by  the  Sons  of  Liberty,  who  de 
manded  to  know  whether  he  carried  tea.  Upon  his 
confession,  they  took  the  vessel  with  the  1 14  chests  of 
tea  in  the  hold  around  to  Griffin's  wharf,  where  it  could 
be  watched  more  easily.  Express  riders  were  sent  to 
New  York  and  Philadelphia  to  notify  them  of  the  spir 
ited  resistance  of  Boston,  and  other  riders  were  con 
stantly  in  readiness  to  alarm  the  country.  Soon  the 
Eleanor  under  Captain  Bruce  and  the  Beaver  under 
Captain  Coffin  arrived  with  the  same  amount  of  tea  and 
were  similarly  treated.  Bodies  of  watchmen  selected  by 
the  town  meeting  patrolled  the  wharf  day  and  night. 
If  force  was  attempted  to  land  the  tea,  the  bells  were  to 
be  tolled  by  day  or  rung  by  night.  It  was  said  to 
be  im'possible  "  to  buy  a  pair  of  p — Is  in  town,  as  they 
are  all  bought  up."  *  In  vain  the  owner  of  the  vessels 
prayed  the  governor  for  permission  to  return  the  tea  to 
England  without  having  them  cleared  entirely.  It  was 
a  contest  between  the  government  and  the  rising  rebel 
lion,  and  the  issue  might  as  well  come  now  as  later. 

On  the  evening  of  the  nineteenth  day,  just  as  the 
candles  were  lighted,  in  a  great  town  meeting  which  had 
been  in  session  almost  continuously  since  the  Dartmouth 

1  [Pistols].  Hart's  "American  History  told  by  Contemporaries,"  Vol. 
II,  p.  431. 


68  THE  MEN"  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

came  in,  Mr.  Rotch  reported  another  failure  to  get  a 
pass  for  his  vessels.  Samuel  Adams  then  arose  and 
said,  "This  meeting  can  do  nothing  more  to  save  the 
country."  It  may  or  may  not  have  been  a  signal,  but 
immediately  the  cry  of  the  "  Mohawks  " l  was  heard 
outside.  Some  one  in  the  gallery  cried,  "  Three  cheers 
for  Griffin's  wharf,"  and  the  meeting  dissolved.  Many 
followed  the  Mohawks,  who  had  assembled  on  Fort  Hill, 
down  to  the  wharf,  and  even  assisted  them  in  passing 
up  the  342  chests  of  tea  from  the  holds  of  the  three  ves 
sels  and  tossing  the  contents  into  the  water.  Before 
nine  o'clock,  property  to  the  value  of  ;£  18,000  had  been 
destroyed,  and  Boston  as  a  city  had  committed  an  overt 
act  of  violence.  Precedent  would  easily  be  found  for 
punishing  a  city  because  of  the  acts  of  its  inhabitants. 

Paul  Revere2  was  sent  to  carry  the  news  of  Boston's 
spirited  action  to  the  other  cities.  When  tea  arrived  in 
New  York,  the  city  was  placarded  by  the  Mohawks,  and 
the  tea  ships  sent  to  Halifax.  From  Philadelphia  and 
from  Portsmouth,  New  Hampshire,  the  imported  tea  was 
returned  to  England.  The  example  of  Boston  seemed 
contagious.  At  Annapolis  and  at  Burlington,  New  Jer 
sey,  tea  was  burned.  The  twenty  days  being  allowed  to 
expire,  the  tea  at  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  was  seized 
by  the  customs  officers  and  stored  in  a  mouldy  ware 
house.  A  tea  ship  was  cast  away  on  Cape  Cod,  and  the 
tea  destroyed  by  the  Sons  of  Liberty.  A  man  who 
managed  to  save  a  hundred  pounds  of  it  was  caught  at 

1  The  word  "  Mohawk "  was  used  to  denote  a  rough,  disorderly  ele 
ment,  both  in  England  and  America.     See  No.  335   of  Addison's  "  Sir 
Roger  de  Coverley." 

2  Paul  Revere,  a  Boston  engraver  and  goldsmith,  acted  as  an  express 
rider  upon  various  occasions.     See  his  Life  by  Goss. 


SAMUEL   ADAMS  69 

Lyme  and  roughly  treated.  In  February  following  the 
December  "  party,"  twenty-eight  chests  were  thrown 
overboard  in  Boston  from  the  Fortune.  In  April  tea 
was  destroyed  in  New  York.  Three  hundred  pounds 
were  burned  in  the  market-place  at  Providence,  Rhode 
Island,  according  to  the  notice  of  the  town  crier,  and 
in  the  presence  of  a  vast  multitude.  At  the  same  time, 
a  "  spirited  Son  of  Liberty  went  along  the  streets  with 
his  brush  and  lampblack  and  obliterated  or  unpainted 
the  word  'tea*  on  the  shop  signs."  It  was  estimated 
that  the  total  value  of  the  tea  destroyed  in  America 
reached  £2 5,ooo,  and  that  returned  would  have  brought 
,£300,000  to  the  needy  East  India  Company.1 

Early  in  March,  the  king  laid  before  Parliament  109 
papers  giving  accounts  of  the  riot  in  Boston  harbor  and 
elsewhere,  as  well  as  the  countenance  given  to  such  dis 
order  by  the  various  town  meetings.  The  spirit  of 
rebellion  seemed  to  pervade  the  continent,  but  Boston 
was  the  leader.  Some  pronounced  the  city  a  "  nest  of 
locusts,"  and  others  insisted  that  it  should  be  "pulled 
about  the  ears  "  of  its  inhabitants.  Even  Franklin,  the 
Massachusetts  agent,  regretted  the  action  of  Boston  and 
sent  over  word  that  "  Pitt  delivered  his  sentiments  in  the 
House  against  the  Americans,  and  blamed  us  for  destroy 
ing  the  tea."  The  right  of  property  is  dear  to  the  English- 

1  Because  she  tried  to  force  the  tea  on  the  colonies,  England  was  de 
clared  to  be  the  aggressor.  As  a  local  wag  put  it  in  the  Boston  Gazette  : 

"  Rudely  forced  to  drink  tea,  Massachusetts  in  anger 
Spills  the  tea  on  John  Bull  —  John  falls  on  to  bang  her; 
Massachusetts,  enraged,  calls  her  neighbors  to  aid, 
And  gives  master  John  a  severe  bastinade ! 
Now,  good  men  of  law,  pray  who  is  in  fault,  — 
The  one  who  begins,  or  resists,  the  assault?" 


70     THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

man,  and  only  extreme  provocation  can  justify  its  destruc 
tion.  "  Let  it  go  forth  to  the  world  that  Great  Britain  will 
protect  her  subjects  and  their  property"  was  the  moving 
thought.  If  property  could  no  longer  be  safe  in  Boston 
harbor,  property  should  no  longer  be  carried  there. 

In  eighteen  days  a  bill  had  passed  the  Parliament 
without  a  division  in  either  house  and  by  a  "  prodigious 
majority,"  to  prevent,  after  the  first  day  of  June  follow 
ing,  all  vessels  entering  the  harbor  of  Boston  except 
those  carrying  fuel  or  victuals.  Even  these  could  be 
brought  only  in  coasting  vessels  and  must  then  be  entered 
at  Salem  or  Marblehead  and  come  to  Boston  under  a 
pass  with  an  officer  on  board.  The  capital  of  the  prov 
ince  was  removed  to  Salem.  The  king  was  given  power 
to  annul  the  act  when  the  Bostonians  should  pay  for  the 
tea  and  all  other  property  destroyed  in  the  different  riots 
and  give  promise  that  property  would  be  safe  in  their 
harbor  hereafter. 

In  determining  the  kind  of  punishment  for  Boston, 
Lord  North  was  taking  advantage  of  the  keen  commer 
cial  rivalry  among  the  colonial  ports.  He  thought  the 
prospect  of  gaining  Boston's  trade  would  appeal  to  the 
other  seaboard  cities,  and  thus  the  threatened  colonial 
union  would  be  broken.  He  assured  Parliament  that 
"  the  rest  of  the  colonies  will  not  take  fire  at  the  proper 
punishment  inflicted  on  those  who  have  disobeyed  your 
authority."  However,  some  agreed  with  Lord  Chester 
field,  "  I  never  saw  a  forward  child  mended  by  whipping ; 
and  I  would  not  have  the  mother  country  become  a  step 
mother."  But  sentiment  was  plainly  in  favor  of  further 
coercion.  Soon  a  measure  was  passed  changing  the 
charter  of  Massachusetts  in  several  particulars,  one  of 


SAMUEL  ADAMS  71 

which  would  prevent  so  many  and  such  free  town  meet 
ings.  Another  allowed  any  person  accused  of  a  capital 
offence  committed  in  the  line  of  duty  to  be  allowed  trial 
in  any  other  colony  or  in  Great  Britain.  Future  Captain 
Prestons  and  massacre  soldiers  were  not  to  be  endangered 
by  a  colonial  jury.  To  these  acts  was  added  one  of  the 
previous  year  for  quartering  troops  on  the  town  of 
Boston.  Many  also  included  the  Quebec  Act,  extending 
that  province  down  as  far  as  the  Ohio  river,  among  these 
"  intolerable  acts  "  as  they  were  called  in  America.  In 
England,  they  were  felt  to  be  natural  punishments  and 
were  known  as  the  "  repressive  acts." 

On  Tuesday,  May  10,  1774,  Captain  Shayler  brought 
a  copy  of  the  Port  Bill  into  Boston.  On  the  I3th,  the 
town  meeting,  with  Samuel  Adams  as  moderator,  voted 
"  that  if  the  other  colonies  come  into  a  joint  Resolution 
to  stop  all  Importations  from  Great.  Britain  and  Expor- 
tations  to  Great  Britain  and  every  part  of  the  West 
Indies,  till  the  Act  for  Blocking  up  this  Harbor  be 
repealed,  the  same  will  prove  the  Salvation  of  North 
America  and  her  Liberties."  At  a  subsequent  meeting, 
the  moderator  informed  the  people  that  the  resolutions 
had  been  forwarded  to  the  "  Several  Provinces  by  Mr. 
Riviere." 

Local  results  followed  immediately.  The  neighboring 
towns  showed  a  willingness  to  enter  into  the  desired 
agreement  of  non-intercourse  with  Great  Britain.  But 
a  ready  assent  from  the  large  cities  could  scarcely  be 
expected,  although  so  much  desired  by  Boston.  Such 
agreements  were  hard  to  enforce  in  thirteen  colonies, 
extending  over  a  wide  area  and  having  such  diversified 
interests  and  so  few  means  of  communication.  Those 


72  THE  MEN'  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

formed  in  the  past  by  committees  of  correspondence  had 
caused  bitter  feelings  and  had  not  long  endured.  But 
if  these  committees  or  their  representatives  could  meet 
in  some  kind  of  a  convention  many  of  these  differences 
might  be  reconciled  and  an  agreement  drawn  up  which 
would  hold.  From  all  sides  came  spontaneously  the 
suggestion  of  a  Congress  or  diplomatic  convention  like 
those  called  by  the  nations  of  Europe  at  different  times 
for  considering  affairs  of  mutual  interest.  There  was  a 
precedent  for  such  action  in  the  Stamp  Act  Congress  at 
New  York  nine  years  before. 

Thus  the  committees  of  correspondence  were  fulfil 
ling  a  prophecy  made  by  a  member  of  the  House  of 
Commons  some  time  before:  "The  Committees  of 
Correspondence  in  different  provinces  are  in  constant 
communication  .  .  .  they  do  not  trust  the  conveyance 
of  the  Post-Office  .  •.  .  they  have  set  up  a  constitutional 
courier  which  will  soon  grow  up  to  the  superseding  of 
your  Post-Office.  As  soon  as  intelligence  of  these 
affairs  reaches  them,  they  will  judge  it  necessary  to 
communicate  with  each  other.  It  will  be  found  incon 
venient  and  ineffectual  by  letters  .  .  .  they  must  confer. 
They  will  hold  a  conference  .  .  .  and  to  what  these 
committees,  thus  met  in  congress,  will  grow  up,  I  will 
not  say." 

September  as  a  time  for  the  Congress  would  give 
sufficient  notice  for  preparation,  and  Philadelphia  as  a 
central  city,  easy  of  access,  would  prove  a  good  place.  A 
meeting  in  that  city  might  also  persuade  the  Quakers 
to  look  upon  the  Boston  situation  more  favorably  than 
they  seemed  at  first  inclined.  Although  keenly  alive  to 
the  unjust  policy  of  Great  Britain,  they  were  opposed  to 


SAMUEL  ADAMS  73 

any  measures  which  might  look  like  resistance.  They 
had  also  an  aversion  to  the  town  meeting  and  Boston 
methods  in  general.  Only  by  finesse  and  skilful  ma 
nipulation  on  the  part  of  leading  spirits  was  a  meeting 
held  there  and  even  a  moderately  sustaining  reply  re^ 
turned  to  Boston. 

Nor  was  the  first  feeling  at  New  York  much  better. 
Revere  had  delivered  his  appeal  to  the  recognized  Sons 
of  Liberty,  Sears,  MacDougall  and  others,  who  at  once 
returned  an  assurance  to  Boston  that  "  the  city  of  New 
York  would  heartily  join  them  against  the  cruel  and 
arbitrary  proceedings  of  the  British  Parliament."  But 
the  mercantile  and  Church  of  England  element  became 
alarmed  at  this  encouragement  of  the  destruction  of 
property  by  "the  Presbyterian  junto  or  self-constituted 
Sons  of  Liberty  (as  they  styled  themselves)  which  had 
stood  ever  since  the  time  of  the  Stamp  Act,"  and 
appointed  a  new  committee  of  fifty-one.  This  com 
mittee  sent  a  letter  to  Boston  which  repudiated  the 
cheering  response  of  the  Sons  of  Liberty.  "  We  lament 
over  our  inability  to  relieve  your  anxiety  by  a  decisive 
opinion.  ...  A  Congress  of  Deputies  from  the  colonies 
in  general  is  of  the  utmost  moment.  .  .  .  Such  being 
our  sentiments  it  must  be  premature  to  pronounce 
any  judgment  on  the  expedient  which  you  have  sug 
gested."  l 

Was  this  cool  reply  a  warning  to  impetuous  Boston 
that  she  was  to  be  deserted?  The  first  day  of  June, 
when  the  Port  Bill  went  into  effect,  would  tell.  At  noon 
of  that  day,  the  Custom  House  and  all  courts  of  Boston 
were  closed,  and  the  records  placed  in  carts  to  be  trans- 

y 
1  Force's  "  Archives,"  4th  Series,  I.,  300. 


74  THE  MEAT  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

ported  to  Salem,  the  new  capital.  Two  men-of-war 
swung  idly  with  the  tide  in  the  harbor.  The  patriots 
solemnly  tolled  the  bells,  placed  their  flags  at  half-mast, 
and  awaited  further  events.  The  proposed  Congress 
was  not  to  meet  until  September ;  what  was  to  become 
of  Boston  in  the  meantime-?  The  Harvard  Commence 
ment  exercises  were  abandoned  because  of  "  the  dark 
aspect  of  our  public  affairs."  Very  soon  from  New  York 
came  the  cheering  intelligence  that  the  day  had  been 
observed  generally  by  tolling  bells  and  lowered  flags, 
although  the  fast  had  not  been  carried  out  by  the  clergy. 
From  Virginia  came  the  proclamation  of  a  day  of  fast 
ing  and  prayer  ordered  by  the  burgesses,  who  attended 
church  and  listened  to  their  chaplain,  after  the  rector  had 
refused  to  preach  on  such  occasion.  Philadelphia  sent 
word  that  business  had  been  generally  suspended  and 
the  bells  tolled,  although  the  Quakers  denied  the  former 
statement  and  the  sexton  of  Christ  Church  the  latter. 
Thus  evidences  were  not  wanting  that  the  patriots  were 
to  have  a  home  as  well  as  a  foreign  contest. 

The  hardships  of  the  Port  Bill  were  soon  felt  in 
Boston.  The  firewood  which  had  been  carried  into  the 
city  from  the  bay  and  adjacent  parts  of  the  coast  could 
not  now  be  brought  in  without  being  taken  to  Marble- 
head  or  Salem,  greatly  increasing  the  price  and  causing 
suffering  to  the  poor.  Material  for  house  building  or 
similar  work  had  to  be  carted  thirty  miles  from  those 
ports,  and  building  operations  were  stopped  by  the  in 
creased  expense.  The  vessels  on  the  stocks  were  aban 
doned,  since  they  could  not  be  launched  if  completed. 
The  ropewalks  which  supplied  the  shipyards  were  idle. 
New  barracks  were  to  be  erected  for  the  additional 


SAMUEL  ADAMS  75 

troops  being  brought  into  the  city,  but  the  needy  me 
chanics  scorned  the  opportunity  of  such  labor. 

Boston  had  always  been  attentive  to  her  poor,  and 
one  of  her  first  concerns  had  been  for  them  when  their 
regular  means  of  employment  were  thus  taken  away. 
A  committee  was  appointed  by  the  town  meeting  for 
providing  some  ways  and  means  of  furnishing  instant 
employment  for  the  poor.  As  a  temporary  expedient, 
it  set  men  to  work  repairing  and  repaving  the  streets 
of  the  town,  their  wages  being  paid  by  public  contribu 
tion.  A  brickyard  was  operated  on  the  Neck  which 
furnished  employment  to  a  hundred  poor  men.  Wool, 
flax,  and  cotton  were  bought  to  give  labor  to  poor 
women.  It  was  planned  to  begin  the  erection  of  a 
building  and  the  making  of  a  vessel,  both  to  be  sold 
at  auction  when  completed,  but  the  restriction  of  the 
Port  Bill  made  the  procuring  of  raw  material  well-nigh 
impossible.  Leather  was  furnished  to  the  shoemakers 
and  iron  to  the  blacksmiths,  and  their  finished  work 
taken  in  payment.  Some  shoes  and  axes  so  made  were 
sent  to  Virginia  for  sale. 

Samuel  Adams  was  made  the  head  of  a  committee  to 
receive  and  distribute  donations.  The  reply  to  the  call 
for  aid  made  this  office  no  sinecure.  From  Windham, 
Connecticut,  twenty-seven  days  after  the  port  was  closed, 
came  a  notification  that  "  a  small  flock  of  sheep,  which 
at  this  season  are  not  so  good  as  we  could  wish,  but  are 
the  best  we  had,"  was  upon  the  road  to  feed  the  poor 
of  the  town  of  Boston.  Other  similar  offerings  fol 
lowed,  "  appeasing  the  fire  of  the  ministry  by  the  blood 
of  rams  and  lambs,"  until  the  number  reached  over 
three  thousand.  Cattle  often  accompanied  the  sheep. 


;6  THE  MEN"  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION" 

The  merchants  of  Marblehead  and  Salem  gave  free  use 
of  their  wharves  and  warehouses,  and  the  carters  gratui 
tously  carried  over  the  thirty  miles  into  Boston  the  sup 
plies  of  rice,  wheat,  corn,  flour,  fish,  and  oil  which 
poured  in  from  all  along  the  Atlantic  coast.  A  sloop 
loaded  with  supplies  was  brought  from  Cape  Fear  by 
Marblehead  into  Boston,  the  captain  and  sailors  serving 
gratis.1 

The  "Constitutional  Society"  of  London  sent  ,£100, 
and  many  smaller  sums  came  over  seas  from  private 
individuals.  Over  ,£1000  was  acknowledged  at  one 
time  from  New  York.  The  English  inhabitants  of 
Montreal  forwarded  £100.  Even  the  Quakers,  al 
though  they  could  not  countenance  measures  of  vio 
lence,  preserved  their  reputation  for  charity  by  sending 
£2540  to  Boston.2 

Samuel  Adams  manifested  no  impatience  at  the  fail 
ure  of  Philadelphia  and  New  York  to  come  into  a  non- 
intercourse  agreement  without  the  intervention  of  a 
Congress.  John  Adams  declared  the  Philadelphia  reply 
"cool  and  calculating."  But  both  men  fell  readily  into 
the  plan  of  such  a  meeting.  The  important  point  in 
Massachusetts  was  to  find  some  body  qualified  to 
name  delegates  to  represent  the  colony.  Most  fortu 
nately,  General  Gage,  who  had  been  appointed  cap 
tain-general,  governor-in-chief,  and  vice-admiral,  had 
prorogued  the  Massachusetts  General  Court  from  its 
May  meeting  in  Boston  to  June  7,  at  the  new  capital, 
Salem.  Samuel  Adams  was  both  a  member  of  the 

1  This  entire  subject  of  the  relief  of  Boston  may  be  studied  in  the 
Massachusetts  Historical  Society  Collections,  4th  Series,  Vol.  IV.,  1858. 

2  Pennsylvania  Magazine  of  History  and  Biography,  Vol.  I.,  p.  168. 


SAMUEL   ADAMS  77 

Assembly  and  its  clerk.  In  Salem  he  inaugurated  fre 
quent  caucuses  of  trusty  members,  gradually  making 
up  his  majority.  Many  in  Boston  were  at  first  willing 
to  pay  for  the  tea  instead  of  continuing  resistance  in 
the  proposed  Congress.  The  mechanics  held  a  meeting 
for  that  purpose.  A  public  letter  from  Philadelphia 
urged  it.  But  in  the  Boston  town  meetings,  Warren 
urged  an  opposite  course  and  kept  public  sentiment 
abreast  of  its  representatives  in  Salem. 

On  Friday,  June  17,  1774,  a  resolution  passed  the 
Assembly  at  Salem  to  lock  the  doors,  and  another  was 
presented  providing  for  the  appointment  of  five  delegates 
to  represent  Massachusetts  in  the  proposed  confere-nce  or 
Congress  at  Philadelphia.  Upon  plea  of  illness  a  member 
was  allowed  to  leave  the  room.  He  ran  at  once  to  inform 
Gage  of  the  unauthorized  proceeding.  Flucker,  the 
governor's  secretary,  was  sent  immediately  with  an  order 
dissolving  the  Assembly,  yet  knocked  in  vain  upon  the 
door.  The  key  by  this  time  had  found  its  way  into 
Samuel  Adams's  pocket.  The  baffled  secretary  stood 
upon  the  landing  at  the  head  of  the  stairway  and  read 
the  order  in  a  loud  voice,  but  it  was  heard  only  by  a 
number  of  idlers  and  a  few  members  of  the  House  who 
for  some  reason  were  not  inside.  Within  the  room  the 
action  was  taken  which  chose  as  a  committee  to  the  pro 
posed  Congress  "the  Hon.  James  Bowdoin,  Esq.,  the 
Hon.  Thomas  dishing,  Esq.,  Mr.  Samuel  Adams,  John 
Adams,  and  Robert  Treat  Paine,  Esq."  The  vote  stood 
117  to  12.  The  sum  of  ^500  was  given  for  their  ex 
penses,  to  be  raised  by  a  voluntary  contribution  from 
each  town.  This  task  being  finished,  the  Assembly 
voluntarily  adjourned,  the  door  was  unlocked,  and  the 


78  THE  MEN  WHO  MADE   THE  NATION 

Massachusetts  legislature  under  the  king  had  passed 
away  forever.  But  from  its  labors  came  the  Provincial 
Congress  of  the  Massachusetts  Colony,  which  instituted 
revolutionary  local  government,  and  the  "Continental  "  1 
Congress  at  Philadelphia,  which  was  destined  to  inaugu 
rate  a  national  Revolutionary  government. 

The  long-continued  agitations  of  Samuel  Adams  had 
brought  results.  The  scene  changes  to  Philadelphia 
and  the  agency  from  the  New  England  town  meeting 
to  a  national  Congress.  It  was  fitting  that  the  town 
clerk  of  Boston  should  make  this  entry : 

At  an  Adjournment  of  the  Port  Bill  Meeting  Tuesday,  Octo 
ber  25th,  1774.  Ten  o'clock  before  Noon  — 

Mr.  Samuel  Adams,  the  Moderator  of  this  Meeting  being 
now  at  the  Continental  Congress,  it  was  moved  that  a  Pro.  Tern. 
Moderator  be  now  chosen  by  a  Hand  Vote. 

1  So  called  because  it  was  said  to  represent  the  continent. 


CHAPTER   III 

JOHN    ADAMS,    THE    PARTISAN    OF    INDEPENDENCE 

PHILADELPHIA,  August  29. 
The  Hon.  Thomas  Cufhing,  Efq  ;  Mr. 
Samuel  Adams,  John  Adams,  and  Robert 
Treat  Paine,  Efquires,  Delegates  from  Bof- 
ton,  are  expected  in  town  this  evening.  — 
Pennfylvania  Packet. 

THE  delegates  sent  by  the  various  colonies  to  the  first 
Continental  Congress  were  little  likely  to  receive  an 
official  greeting  when  they  arrived  in  Philadelphia. 
Governor  Penn  had  reported  exultingly  to  Lord  Dart 
mouth  that  the  prior  proceedings  in  Pennsylvania  were 
likely  to  prove  a  check  rather  than  an  encouragement 
to  the  rebellion.  Yet  they  were  tendered  a  greeting, 
hearty  though  unofficial,  by  the  Sons  of  Liberty. 

The  recognized  leader  of  these  few  "  liberty  men  " 
of  Philadelphia  was  Charles  Thomson,  a  merchant  of 
noted  integrity.  He  had  enjoyed  an  active  correspond 
ence  with  Franklin  in  England  during  the  Stamp  Act 
and  later  controversies,  and  many  extracts  from  his  let 
ters  to  the  colonial  agent  found  their  way  into  the  Lon 
don  newspapers.  Associated  with  him  in  the  early 
non-importation  agitation  was  another  merchant,  Thomas 
Mifrlin,  who  had  travelled  in  England,  but  came  home 
an  ardent  patriot.  Mifrlin  had  been  in  Boston,  in  1 773, 
attending  the  funeral  of  his  mother  and  had  met  the  two 

79 


80  THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

Adamses  and  kindred  spirits.  Notwithstanding  the  sad 
occasion,  no  doubt  the  exciting  political  questions  of  the 
day  were  discussed  at  the  table  of  Dr.  Cooper.  Certainly 
after  the  tea,  John  Adams  thought  the  visitor  "  a  very 
sensible  and  agreeable  man."  1 

Joseph  Reed  was  a  young  lawyer  who  had  studied  in 
England  and  four  years  before  Congress  met  had 
brought  home  as  a  bride,  Esther,  the  daughter  of  Dennys 
De  Berdt. 2  His  strong  English  friendship  and  his  cor 
respondence  with  Lord  Hillsborough  made  him  an  object 
of  suspicion,  which  his  unwearied  efforts  in  the  patriot 
cause  had  not  wholly  removed. 

More  generally  known  was  John  Dickinson,  the  author 
of  the  "Farmer's  Letters,"  acknowledged  to  be  the 
most  masterly  presentation  of  the  patriot  position 
under  the  Townshend  Acts.  In  them  he  advocated 
protests  and  petitions,  but  no  violence.  Since  their  pub 
lication  he  had  married  into  a  Quaker  family,  and,  as 
Thomson  confessed,  "  his  sentiments  were  not  generally 
known.  The  Quakers  courted  and  seemed  to  depend 
on  him.  The  other  party  from  his  past  conduct  hoped 
for  his  assistance  but  were  not  sure  how  he  would  go 
if  matters  came  to  an  extremity."3  Dickinson  and 
Thomson  had  married  cousins  and  were  much  together. 

1  The  many  quotations  in  this  chapter  from  John  Adams  are  taken  from 
the  twelve-volume  edition  of  his  "  Works,"  usually  volume  second. 

2  Esther  De  Berdt  Reed  won  lasting  fame  by  heading  a  movement  in 
Philadelphia  for  the  relief  of  the    Revolutionary  troops.     See   Sparks's 
"  Washington,"  Vol.  VII.,  pp.  90,  408,  and  Reed's  "  Life  and  Correspon 
dence  of  Joseph  Reed." 

3  New  York  Historical   Society  Collections,    1879,  Vol.    XI.,   p.   275. 
"  The  Papers  of  Charles  Thomson."     Among  these  papers  is  a  description 
by  Thomson  of  the  strategy  used  in  bringing  Dickinson  to  the  support  of 
the  cause  of  Boston, 


JOHN  ADAMS  8 1 

Thomson  told  John  Adams  that  Dickinson's  patriotism 
was  checked  by  his  mother  and  his  wife  ;  that  his  mother 
said  to  him,  "  Johnny,  you  will  be  hanged ;  your  estate 
will  be  forfeited  and  confiscated ;  you  will  leave  your 
excellent  wife  a  widow,  and  your  charming  children 
orphans,  beggars,  and  infamous." 

During  the  summer  Dickinson,  Mifflin,  and  Thomson 
made  a  tour  through  the  "  frontier  "  counties  of  Pennsyl 
vania  about  Reading  and  York  to  ascertain  the  feeling 
of  the  Germans.  They  succeeded  in  getting  Dickinson 
added  to  the  list  of  Pennsylvania  delegates  to  the  Con 
gress.  Mifflin  had  already  been  chosen.  No  doubt 
Joseph  Galloway,  a  wealthy  Philadelphia  lawyer  and 
friend  of  Franklin,  would  be  found  the  most  conservative 
of  the  seven  delegates.  Even  now  his  attitude  to  the 
cause  foreshadowed  his  desertion  to  the  king  two  years 
later,  when  the  present  of  a  halter  in  a  box  warned  him 
of  the  possible  fate  in  store  for  him.  Rhoads  was  a 
wealthy  Quaker,  who  soon  left  the  Congress  upon  being 
chosen  mayor  of  Philadelphia.  Biddle  was  a  lawyer  from 
Reading,  and  Ross  a  lawyer  from  Lancaster.  Morton 
and  Humphreys,  country  farmers  of  the  better  class, 
completed  the  list  of  Pennsylvania  representatives  to  the 
Congress. 

Wednesday,  August  10,  the  South  Carolina  packet 
from  Charleston  reached  the  wharf  at  Philadelphia  and 
Henry  Middleton  and  Edward  Rutledge  walked  ashore, 
to  be  met  no  doubt  by  some  of  Philadelphia's  kindred 
spirits.  Middleton  came  of  an  influential  South  Caro 
lina  family,  and  was  an  extensive  planter  with  an  estate 
estimated  at  fifty  thousand  acres  and  employing  eight 
hundred  slaves.  He  had  been  speaker  of  the  Commons 


82  THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

of  his  colony  and  for  almost  twenty  years  a  member  of 
its  Council.  Edward  Rutledge  was  Middleton's  son-in- 
law,  and  Mrs.  Rutledge  accompanied  the  two  gentlemen. 
Rutledge  was  only  twenty-five  years  old,  but  had  studied 
law  in  England,  and  when  his  fiery  disposition  should  be 
tempered  by  age  promised  to  rival  in  reputation  his 
elder  brother,  John. 

John  Rutledge  had  also  been  trained  in  the  law  courts 
of  England,  as  was  the  custom  in  the  southern  colo 
nies.1  As  attorney  for  the  planters,  he  had  gained  great 
influence,  and  it  was  undoubtedly  through  his  efforts 
that  the  important  colony  of  South  Carolina  was  to  be 
represented  in  Congress.  He  was,  of  course,  a  delegate 
and  came  from  Charleston  to  New  York  in  the  Betsy, 
accompanied  by  his  wife,  his  sister,  and  his  son,  mak 
ing  the  voyage  in  ten  days.  At  New  York  he  joined 
the  Massachusetts  delegates  and  accompanied  them  to 
Philadelphia. 

Rutledge's  planter  friends,  Thomas  Lynch  and 
Christopher  Gadsden,  took  passage  on  the  Sea  Nymph 
from  Charleston  and  in  one  week  reached  Philadelphia. 
Lynch  was  accompanied  by  his  wife  and  daughter. 
Lodgings  were  secured  for  them  at  Mrs.  McKenzie's. 
The  three  had  been  in  Boston  the  summer  before  the 
tea  was  destroyed,  and  Mr.  Lynch  had  been  sounded  by 
the  Boston  patriots.  They  found  him,  so  John  Adams 
says,  "  a  solid,  sensible,  though  a  plain  man ;  a  hearty 
friend  to  America  and  her  righteous  cause." 

Gadsden  was  a  trader-planter  of  the  true  colonial  type. 
The  Boston  delegates  would  be  glad  to  meet  him,  since, 

1  See  the  second  chapter  of  Stille's  "  Life  and  Times  of  John  Dick 
inson  "  on  the  lack  of  facilities  for  legal  training  in  the  colonies. 


JOHN-  ADAMS  83 

in  the  midst  of  the  many  suggestions  sent  to  them  that 
they  make  compensation  for  the  destroyed  tea  and  so 
release  their  harbor,  bluff  Gadsden  had  written  to  them, 

"  Never  pay  for  an  ounce  of  the Tea  !  "  l    Gadsden, 

Lynch,  and  John  Rutledge  would  be  welcomed  by  Dick 
inson,  whom  they  had  met  in  the  Stamp  Act  Congress 
in  New  York  nine  years  before.  Also  Rodney  and 
McKean  of  Delaware,  Dyer  of  Connecticut,  and  Will 
iam  Livingston  of  New  Jersey,  would  remember  the 
introduction  in  that  former  gathering. 

The  last  week  in  August,  Major  Sullivan  and  Colonel 
Folsom  of  New  Hampshire  arrived  at  Philadelphia. 
They  had  started  from  Portsmouth  two  weeks  before, 
coming  by  Rhode  Island.  New  York  was  reached  by 
packet  on  Sunday  morning,  and  no  doubt  they  would 
have  remained  there  a  few  days  with  the  Sons  of  Liberty, 
but  the  small-pox  was  raging,  and  neither  of  them  had 
become  immune.2  They  therefore  hurried  on  across 
the  ferry  for  Philadelphia,  where  the  story  of  their 
appointment  had  preceded  them.  It  seemed  that  the 
royal  governor  of  their  colony  had  dissolved  the  Assem 
bly  for  appointing  a  committee  of  correspondence  and 
subsequently  broke  up  a  meeting  of  the  committee. 
When  a  convention  was  called  and  nominated  a  physi 
cian  and  a  lawyer  to  serve  as  delegates  to  the  proposed 
Congress,  the  nominees  declined  such  dangerous  ser 
vice.  Folsom  and  Sullivan  were  then  chosen  and  ac 
cepted,  although  at  no  small  chance  of  sacrifice,  since 

1  Force's  "  Archives,"  4th  Series,  Vol.  I.,  p.  392. 

2  Inoculation  was  known,  but  distrusted  by  many.     John  Adams's  chil 
dren  were  inoculated  at  home  while  he  was  at  Philadelphia.     Ex-Governor 
Ward,  of  Connecticut,  refused  inoculation  and  died  of  the  small-pox  dur 
ing  the  second  session  of  Congress. 


84  THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

Folsom  was  a  colonel  and  Sullivan  a  major  in  the  New 
Hampshire  militia. 

But  amidst  all  these  arrivals  there  was  inquiry  for  the 
real  lions  of  the  occasion  —  the  men  from  suffering 
Boston.  The  honor  due  them  was  paid  on  Monday,  the 
29th,  when  a  number  of  the  delegates  and  gentlemen 
of  Philadelphia  rode  out  to  a  suburb  of  the  city  to  wel 
come  Thomas  Gushing,  Samuel  Adams,  John  Adams, 
and  Robert  Treat  Paine.  The  fifth  delegate,  James 
Bowdoin,  was  deterred  from  undertaking  the  journey 
because  of  his  feeble  health. 

Notwithstanding  the  thick  fog  prevailing  in  Boston 
on  the  morning  of  their  departure  three  weeks  before, 
a  number  of  gentlemen  accompanied  them  from  Mr. 
Cushing's  house  as  far  as  Watertown,  where  "  an 
elegant  entertainment"  was  provided  for  them.  Rumor 
said  that  Gage  would  prevent  their  departure  to  partici 
pate  in  this  unsanctioned  convention,  and  such  ostenta 
tion  may  have  been  a  challenge.  But  no  attempt  was 
made  to  accept  it.  In  fact,  when  one  of  the  four  horses 
which  drew  their  carriage  balked  near  the  Common, 
the  captain  of  a  company  of  regulars  encamped  there 
jokingly  suggested  to  them  that  their  coachmen  must 
have  made  a  mistake  and  put  in  a  Tory  horse. 

The  summer  of  1774  was  exceedingly  warm,  and  the 
heat  was  intensified  by  a  long-continued  drought.  A 
letter  from  Mrs.  Adams  overtook  her  husband  at  New 
York  describing  a  rain  "  which  lasted  twelve  hours  and 
has  greatly  revived  the  dying  fruits  of  the  earth." 1 
Travelling  was  not  pleasant  under  such  circumstances, 

1  The  quotations  of  Mrs.  Adams  are  taken  from  "  The  Familiar  Letters 
of  John  Adams  and  his  Wife." 


JOHN  ADAMS  85 

yet  the  receptions  accorded  the  delegates  made  them 
forget  the  heat  and  the  dust.  Coming  into  a  town 
''cannon  were  fired,  all  the  bells  were  set  to  ringing, 
and  people  crowded  to  their  windows  as  if  it  were  to 
see  a  coronation."  Dinners,  punch,  wine,  and  coffee 
marked  the  evenings.  "  No  Governor  of  a  Province 
nor  General  of  an  army  was  ever  treated  with  so  much 
ceremony  and  assiduity  as  we  have  been  throughout  the 
whole  of  Connecticut,"  wrote  John  Adams. 

In  ten  days  they  had  reached  New  York  and  taken 
private  lodgings  in  King  street  near  the  City  Hall. 
Little  did  John  Adams  think  as  he  looked  at  this  build 
ing  that  he  would  one  day  preside  over  a  Senate  within 
its  walls.  Here  they  tarried  a  week,  holding  interviews 
with  the  Sons  of  Liberty,  meeting  prominent  citizens 
and  trying  to  break  down  the  prevailing  fear  of  the 
"  levelling  spirit "  of  New  England,  as  well  as  the  "  Epis 
copalian  prejudices "  in  New  York.  There  was  too 
much  "  breakfasting,  dining,  drinking  coffee,  &c."  to 
please  the  more  serious  New  England  men,  who  would 
have  preferred  to  examine  the  college,  the  churches,  the 
printers'  offices,  and  booksellers'  shops. 

At  Princeton  College,  they  were  entertained  by  Presi 
dent  Witherspoon,  "  as  high  a  son  of  liberty  as  any  man 
in  America."  His  students  were  all  Sons  of  Liberty, 
although  in  chapel  "  they  sang  as  badly  as  the  Presby 
terians  at  New  York."  He  exhibited  to  the  visitors  an 
orrery  or  planetarium  made  by  Dr.  David  Rittenhouse, 
of  Philadelphia,  which  showed  the  movements  of  the 
heavenly  bodies.  He  also  charged  a  bottle  with  elec 
tricity,  but  the  air  was  unfavorable  to  seeing  the  flash. 
The  visitors  did  not  fail  to  climb  to  the  balcony  of  the 


86  THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

four-story  college  building  to  obtain  the  view  "eighty 
miles  in  diameter." 

They  tarried  at  Princeton  over  Sunday  and  received 
a  number  of  callers.  On  Monday,  they  reached  Phila 
delphia,  to  be  escorted  into  the  city  as  described. 
Although  travel-stained,  they  were  carried  to  a  tav 
ern  — "  the  most  genteel  in  America "  it  seemed  to 
them.  Here  they  found  others  of  the  delegates  assem 
bled,  and  soon  all  sat  down  to  an  "elegant"  supper, 
which  continued  until  eleven  o'clock. 

The  next  evening  the  Connecticut  delegates  reached 
Philadelphia.  They  were  a  most  incongruous  trio. 
Silas  Deane  had  been  a  Connecticut  schoolmaster  who 
had  risen  through  two  fortunate  marriages,  the  first 
bringing  him  wealth,  and  the  second,  social  position. 
His  political  and  social  aspirations  made  him  a  ready 
mark  for  gossip,  and  it  was  rumored  that  he  had  been 
chosen  a  delegate  by  his  own  deciding  vote. 

Roger  Sherman  was  Deane's  opposite  —  a  plain,  self- 
made  man,  who  had  advanced  from  the  shoemaker's 
bench  to  a  judgeship  in  the  superior  court  of  his  colony. 
Deane  wrote  home  that  Sherman  was  as  "badly  calcu 
lated  to  appear  in  such  Company  as  a  chestnut  burr  is 
for  an  eye-stone."1  He  had  an  "odd  and  countrified 
cadence  "  when  he  spoke,  which  was  mortifying  to  the 
sensitive  Deane.  When  they  were  obliged  to  occupy  the 
same  chamber  at  the  little  inns  on  the  journey,  Sher 
man's  snoring  was  an  annoyance  to  Deane,  who  "  turn'd 
and  turn'd  and  groan'd  "  in  concert.  At  one  tavern 
"  there  was  no  fruit,  bad  rum,  and  nothing  of  the  meat 

1  The  quotations  from  Silas  Deane  may  be  found  in  the  New  York  His 
torical  Society  Collections,  Vol.  XIX.,  1886,  "The  Deane  Papers." 


JOHN  ADAMS  87 

kind  but  salt  pork."  At  another,  one  of  the  company 
had  to  go  out  and  "  knock  over  "  three  or  four  chickens 
to  be  roasted  for  dinner.  No  porter  was  to  be  had,  the 
cheese  was  bad,  and  the  only  palatable  drink  was  some 
"  excellent  bottle-cyder."  The  weather  was  excessively 
warm  and  the  days  without  a  breath  of  air.  Deane  was 
for  sending  the  carriages  over  the  ferry  from  New  York 
on  Sunday  evening  to  get  an  early  start  on  Monday 
morning  through  the  Jerseys.  But  the  conscientious 
Sherman  would  not  break  the  Sabbath,  and  the  travel 
lers  were  delayed  the  next  morning  at  the  ferry  till  ten 
o'clock,  and  then  compelled  to  take  a  hand  at  the  oars, 
since  there  was  a  dead  calm. 

Colonel  Eliphalet  Dyer,  the  third  Connecticut  delegate, 
was  a  soldier-lawyer,  a  graduate  of  Yale,  as  was  Deane, 
and  was  probably  less  a  source  of  complaint  than  Sher 
man.  Yet  he  had  an  annoying  way  of  taking  the  leader 
ship  on  a  journey  and  becoming  "  foolishly  swamped  " 
in  his  directions. 

Rhode  Island  had  sent  down  an  oddly  assorted  pair, 
Samuel  Ward  and  Stephen  Hopkins.  Ward  had  been 
many  times  governor  of  that  colony,  as  had  his  father 
before  him.  The  succession  of  his  terms  had  been 
broken  only  when  his  great  rival,  Stephen  Hopkins, 
defeated  him.  For  years  a  bitter  contest  went  on 
between  the  factions  led  by  these  two  men.  The  breach 
was  at  last  healed  by  Hopkins  resigning  in  the  midst 
of  a  term,  and  the  rivals  became  friends  to  embark  in 
the  patriotic  cause.1 

1  Because  of  a  paralytic  stroke,  Hopkins,  now  sixty-seven  years  old, 
could  sign  his  name  only  by  guiding  his  right  hand  with  his  left.  When 
the  facsimile  of  the  signatures  to  the  Declaration  of  Independence  were 


88     THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

The  first  day  of  September  fell  upon  Thursday.  But 
no  delegates  had  yet  arrived  from  New  York,  North 
Carolina,  nor  the  influential  Virginia,  and  it  was  tacitly 
agreed  to  wait  until  the  following  Monday  before  organ 
izing.  On  Friday,  four  of  the  Virginians  arrived,  and 
the  Massachusetts  delegates  went  at  once  to  the  tavern 
to  pay  their  respects.  They  were  found  to  be  "  the 
most  spirited  and  consistent  of  any.  Harrison  said  he 
would  have  come  on  foot  rather  than  not  come.  Bland 
said  he  would  have  gone,  upon  this  occasion,  if  it  had 
been  to  Jericho."  Benjamin  Harrison  was  a  Virginia 
planter,  very  fleshy  and  of  gouty  tendency.  The  thought 
of  his  walking  to  Philadelphia  was  one  of  the  many 
jokes  for  which  he  was  noted.  Richard  Bland  had  been 
educated  at  William  and  Mary  College  and  at  Edinburgh 
University,  and  had  placed  his  pen  entirely  at  the  ser 
vice  of  the  colonial  cause.  Harrison's  brother-in-law,  the 
Honorable  Peyton  Randolph,  another  of  the  delegates, 
had  won  renown  as  speaker  of  the  Virginia  House  of 
Burgesses,  and  it  was  early  understood  that  his  expe 
rience  as  a  presiding  officer,  no  less  than  the  compliment 
to  the  great  colony  of  Virginia,  would  make  him  chair 
man  of  the  Congress  when  it  should  be  organized. 

Richard  Henry  Lee,  the  fourth  of  the  newcomers, 
was  no  doubt  greeted  heartily  by  Samuel  Adams.  For 
some  time  they  had  corresponded  on  the  American 
grievances,  having  been  introduced  by  letter  through 
Lee's  brother,  Arthur,  but  had  never  met  until  brought 
together  in  this  first  Continental  Congress. 

first  sent  to  England,  the  trembling  penmanship  of  Stephen  Hopkins  was 
by  some  attributed  to  his  fear  lest  he  be  hanged  for  signing  the  rebel 
document. 


JOHN  ADAMS  89 

The  Lee  family  had  become  estranged  from  the  gov 
ernment  during  the  long-continued  disputes  between 
the  crown  and  the  colony  over  the  disposition  of  the 
western  lands  and  their  protection  against  the  Indians 
and  the  encroaching  French.  Into  this  contest  the  Vir 
ginia  militia  was  naturally  drawn.  Their  officers  were 
neglected  and  snubbed,  and  their  leader,  a  certain  Colonel 
George  Washington,  had  his  passionate  temper  roused 
to  resignation  more  than  once.  His  idea  of  duty,  to 
which  he  held  himself  strictly,  alone  kept  him  faithful 
to  the  royal  government.  But  when  the  news  of  the 
Port  Bill  reached  Williamsburg  and  the  Assembly  was 
dissolved  by  the  angry  governor  for  appointing  June 
ist  a  day  of  fasting  and  prayer,1  Colonel  Washington 
did  not  hesitate  to  join  the  other  members  of  the  As 
sembly  in  the  Apollo  room  of  the  Raleigh  tavern  and 
to  draw  up  resolutions  supporting  Boston. 

The  Massachusetts  delegates  were  anxious  to  see  this 
Colonel  Washington.  Lynch,  of  South  Carolina,  had 
told  them  that  in  the  Virginia  convention  which  selected 
the  delegates  from  that  colony,  Washington  felt  so  out 
raged  by  the  treatment  of  Boston  that  he  arose  and 
made  a  fiery  speech,  although  he  had  always  been 
marked  both  for  his  calmness  and  his  diffidence  in  pub 
lic  speaking.  He  threatened  to  raise  a  thousand  men 
at  his  own  expense,  place  himself  at  their  head,  and 
march  to  the  relief  of  Boston.  Having  acquired  a  vast 
fortune  by  inheritance  and  marriage2  and  having  been 

1  "June  ist,  Wednesday,  Went  to  Church,  and  fasted  all  day-."     Wash 
ington's  diary  in  Sparks's  "  Washington,"  Vol.  II.,  p.  487. 

2  He  had  inherited  from  his  half-brother,  Lawrence,  twenty-five  hun 
dred  acres  on  the  Potomac,  including  Mount  Vernon.     From  the  bounty 
lands  of  the  Indian  wars,  he  had  earned  and  purchased  almost  fifty  thou- 


90  THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

trained  by  twenty  years  of  service  in  the  Virginia  militia, 
there  was  no  doubt  that  this  tall  Virginian  could  carry 
out  his  threat  if  it  became  necessary. 

In  the  Virginia  Assembly,  Washington  had  come  in 
contact  with  Patrick  Henry,  the  Samuel  Adams  of  Vir 
ginia.  Like  Adams,  Henry  had  proven  a  poor  business 
man,  but  an  efficient  political  agitator.  With  barely 
enough  legal  knowledge  for  admission  to  the  bar 1  he 
had  entered  upon  his  career  of  church  and  government 
opposition  in  the  "  Parson's  Cause."  From  that  day  he 
associated  with  the  opponents  to  the  Established  church, 
although  his  uncle  was  a  rector.  He  championed  the 
young  democracy  arrayed  against  the  ancient  Virginia 
aristocracy.  He  became  the  spokesman  of  the  common 
people.  His  opponents  at  first  ridiculed  his  up-country 
pronunciation,  his  ungrammatical  language,  and  his  awk 
ward  and  violent  gestures.2  A  vestryman  in  the  Estab 
lished  church  described  him  as  "  a  real  half  Quaker,  — 
moderate  and  mild,  and  in  religious  matters  a  saint ;  but 
the  very  d 1  in  politics, —  a  son  of  thunder."3  En 
emies  advised  him  to  confine  himself  to  the  fiddle,  with 
which  it  must  be  confessed  he  made  a  better  showing  than 
with  the  law.  But  however  crude,  his  oratory  was  so  mov- 

sand  acres.  Mrs.  Custis  brought  him  fifteen  thousand  acres,  between  two 
and  three  hundred  negroes,  and  eight  to  ten  thousand  pounds  in  bond. 
The  death  of  Mrs.  Custis's  daughter  added  another  ten  thousand  pounds 
to  Washington's  fortune  according  to  the  Virginia  laws. 

1  Thomas  Jefferson,  the  early  admirer  of  Henry,  says  that  after  reading 
law  for  six  weeks  Henry  prevailed  upon  Peyton  Randolph  and  John 
Randolph  to  sign  his  license  to  practise.  The  third  necessary  signature 
was  obtained,  but  the  fourth  examiner,  Wythe,  refused  to  sign  a  permit 
so  poorly  earned. 

*  See  Henry's  "  Life  of  Patrick  Henry,"  Vol.  I.,  p.  209. 

3  From  a  letter  quoted  in  Meade's  "  History  of  Old  Churches  and 
Families  of  Virginia,  Vol.  I.,  p.  220. 


JOHN  ADAMS  91 

ing  and  so  daring  that  his  nickname  "  the  Demosthenes 
of  the  age  "  was  known  even  in  the  northern  colonies. 

Upon  invitation  of  Washington,  Henry  and  Pendleton 
had  stopped  over  night  at  Mount  Vernon  on  their  way 
to  Philadelphia.  Edmund  Pendleton  was  a  country  jus 
tice,  a  popular  leader,  and  a  devout  churchman.  He 
was  much  pleased  with  the  calm,  strong  character  of 
Mrs.  Washington.  In  letters  written  soon  afterward,  he 
described  her  urging  the  three  gentlemen  to  stand  firm 
in  the  Congress  and  adding,  "  I  know  George  will."  He 
also  said  that,  as  the  three  rode  away  the  following  morn 
ing,  she  stood  on  the  doorstep  and  waved  her  hand  and 
said,  "  Good-by,  God  be  with  you,  gentlemen."  Devo 
tion  to  the  cause  outweighed  her  fears  for  her  husband's 
safety.  The  three  men  reached  Philadelphia  on  Sun 
day,  September  4,  having  been  five  days  on  the  horse 
back  journey  from  Mount  Vernon. 

John  Jay,  a  young  lawyer  of  New  York,  had  married 
the  daughter  of  William  Livingston  a  few  weeks  before 
Congress  met.  Livingston  had  retired  from  the  practice 
of  law  in  New  York  and  had  built  a  residence  in  New 
Jersey  which  he  called  "  Liberty  Hall."  Jay  was  a 
delegate  from  New  York  as  Livingston  was  from  New 
Jersey.  Jay  therefore  departed  quietly  from  New  York 
and  joined  Livingston,  the  two  riding  on  to  Philadelphia. 
The  four  other  delegates  from  New  York  City  were 
given  a  noisy  farewell  when  they  departed.  John  Adams 
described  Duane  as  "  a  little  squint-eyed  "  and  "  very 
artful."  Livingston,  Alsop,  and  Low  were  merchants. 
Boerum  and  Wisner,  two  country  delegates,  came  later. 
Many  of  these  soon  dropped  out  of  sight,  as  did  all  the 
New  Jersey  delegates  save  Livingston.  It  is  reasonable 


92     THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

to  suppose  that  the  fittest  were  not  always  selected  in 
this  first  irregularly  chosen  assembly.  It  was  a  revolt 
of  the  people  against  the  government.  New  leaders 
would  appear  only  in  the  process  of  time. 

On  Monday  morning,  September  5,  all  the  delegates 
thus  far  arrived  met  at  the  City  tavern  at  ten  o'clock  to 
march  to  the  place  of  meeting.  Quite  a  spirited  contest 
had  sprung  up  between  the  Philadelphia  factions  con 
cerning  which  hall  the  Congress  should  meet  in.  Gal 
loway,  the  influential  speaker  of  the  Assembly,  insisted 
upon  the  sessions  being  held  in  the  State  House.  In 
his  official  capacity  he  extended  such  an  invitation,  but 
friends  of  Thomson,  whom  Galloway  had  kept  from  being 
chosen  in  the  list  of  Pennsylvania  delegates,  suggested 
the  hall  built  by  the  Carpenters'  Association.  This 
organization  of  workingmen  was  almost  a  half-century 
old.  Their  building  was  not  quite  complete,  but  was 
ready  for  occupancy.  The  main  room  was  ample,  and 
overhead  were  two  rooms  with  a  long  entry  between, 
where  the  delegates  could  take  exercise.  One  of  these 
upper  rooms  contained  the  carpenters'  library,  the  use 
of  which  had  been  offered  the  Congress. 

Starting  from  the  tavern,  the  delegates  marched  down 
Second  street  to  Chestnut  and  up  Chestnut  to  a  little 
court,  at  the  farther  end  of  which  stood  the  carpenters' 
building.  Having  entered  and  examined  it,  there  was 
"a  general  cry,"  says  John  Adams,  "that  this  was  a 
good  room,"  although,  no  doubt,  Galloway  dissented 
from  the  affirmative  vote  which  followed.  It  was  the 
first  victory  for  Thomson  and  the  radicals,  and  it  was 
at  once  followed  by  a  second  in  the  choice  of  a  secre 
tary.  Duane  and  Jay  of  New  York  had  probably 


JOHN  ADAMS 


93 


already  conferred  with  Galloway  and  other  conserva 
tives,  and  they  therefore  opposed  the  motion  of  Lynch 
that  Thomson  be  made  secretary.  John  Adams  had 
been  attracted  to  Thomson  on  learning  that  he  was 


"the  Samuel  Adams  of  Philadelphia,  the  life  of  the 
cause  of  liberty,"  and  the  interest  had  not  decreased 
on  hearing  that  he  was  "  about  marrying  a  lady,  a 
relation  of  Mr.  Dickinson's,  with  five  thousand  pounds 

sterling." 


94  THE  MEN  IV HO   MADE  THE  NATION 

Thomson  himself  describes  thus  his  introduction  to 
the  Congress : 

"  I  was  married  to  my  second  wife  on  a  Thursday ;  on  the 
next  Monday  I  came  to  town  to  pay  my  respects  to  my  wife's 
aunt  and  the  family.  Just  as  I  alighted  in  Chestnut  street,  the 
doorkeeper  of  Congress  (then  first  met)  accosted  me  with  a 
message  from  them  requesting  my  presence.  Surprised  at  this, 
and  not  able  to  divine  why  I  was  wanted,  I,  however,  bade  my 
servant  to  put  up  the  horses,  and  followed  the  messenger  my 
self  to  the  Carpenters'  Hall,  and  entered  Congress.  Here  was, 
indeed,  an  august  assembly,  and  deep  thought  and  solemn 
anxiety  were  observable  on  their  countenances.  I  walked  up 
the  aisle,  and  standing  opposite  to  the  President,  I  bowed,  and 
told  him  I  awaited  his  pleasure.  He  replied,  '  Congress  desire 
the  favor  of  you,  sir,  to  take  their  minutes.'  I  bowed  in 
acquiescence,  and  took  my  seat  at  the  desk.  After  a  short 
silence,  Patrick  Henry  arose  to  speak.  I  did  not  then  know 
him ;  he  was  dressed  in  a  suit  of  parson's  gray,  and  from  his 
appearance,  I  took  him  for  a  Presbyterian  clergyman,  used  to 
haranguing  the  people."  J 

An  oath  of  secrecy  was  taken,  the  doors  shut,  and  so 
began  in  embryo  the  popular  government  of  the  United 
Colonies  of  America.  These  men  thus  brought  together 
by  emergency  were  simply  reflections  of  the  diversified 
colonies  they  represented.  They  had  a  thousand  old 
prejudices  and  grievances;  they  had  only  one  impulse 
in  common — to  relieve  the  distress  of  some  of  their 
number,  and  possibly  avoid  a  similar  situation  for  them 
selves.  In  their  report  to  the  governor  of  Connecticut, 
the  delegates  from  that  colony  said,  "  An  assembly  like 
this,  though  it  consists  of  less  than  sixty  members,  yet, 

1  The  American  Quarterly  Review,  Vol.  I.,  p.  30. 


JOHN  ADAMS  95 

coming  from  remote  Colonies,  each  of  which  has  some 
modes  of  transacting  publick  business  peculiar  to  itself, 
some  particular  Provincial  rights  and  interests  to  guard 
and  secure,  must  take  some  time  to  become  so  acquainted 
with  each  other's  situations  and  connections."  l 

Their  sessions  were  full  of  discord.  At  one  time  in 
trying  to  come  to  an  agreement  of  non-exportation  to 
England,  the  South  Carolina  delegates,  with  the  excep 
tion  of  Gadsden,  withdrew  from  the  Congress  for  several 
days.  When  the  Bostonians  were  pleading  for  such  an 
association,  certain  other  delegates  reminded  them  that 
their  John  Hancock  had  imported  tea  once  at  least  since 
the  agreement  of  1770,  and  had  paid  the  duty  on  it. 
They  could  make  no  reply  save  that  Hancock  was  only 
half  owner  of  the  vessel  in  question,  and  the  partner 
must  have  ordered  the  tea.  Once  Galloway  proposed 
a  plan  of  union  with  England  which  would  remove  a 
few  difficulties,  but  Samuel  Adams  and  Patrick  Henry 
cried  out  against  it.  Galloway  afterward  declared  that 
he  feared  mob  violence  at  this  juncture.  John  Adams 
said  that  Henry  had  a  "  horrid  opinion  "  of  the  conserva 
tives  like  Galloway,  Jay,  and  the  Rutledges.  "  He  is 
very  impatient  to  see  such  fellows,  and  not  be  at  liberty 
to  describe  them  in  their  true  colors."  Adams  him 
self  wrote  down  Edward  Rutledge  as  "  a  perfect  Bob- 
o-Lincoln,  a  swallow,  a  sparrow,  a  peacock." 

Religious  differences  were  manifest  at  the  first  session. 
Among  the  delegates  were  "  some  Episcopalians,  some 
Quakers,  some  Anabaptists,  some  Presbyterians,  and 
some  Congregationalists."  The  question  of  opening 
the  sessions  with  prayer  was  brought  up,  but  so  strong 

1  Force's  "  Archives,"  4th  Series,  Vol.  I.,  p.  854. 


JOHN  ADAMS  97 

were  religious  prejudices  that  all  could  not  join  in  the 
same  act  of  worship.  On  the  second  day  the  shrewd 
Samuel  Adams  discovered  an  opportunity  to  make  use 
of  this  situation.  He  was  a  strict  Congregationalist, 
yet  he  arose  to  say  that  he  was  no  bigot,  and  could  hear 
a  prayer  from  any  man  who  was  a  friend  of  his  country. 
He  therefore  moved  that  the  Rev.  Mr.  Duche  ("  Dush-ay 
they  pronounce  it"),  an  Episcopal  clergyman,  be  requested 
to  read  prayers  the  following  morning.  Duche  accepted 
the  invitation,  and  read  the  collect  for  the  seventh  of 
September,  the  thirty-fifth  Psalm,  and  made  an  extempo 
raneous  prayer.  John  Adams  wrote  to  his  wife  that  he 
never  saw  a  better  result  in  an  audience:  "It  has  had 
an  excellent  effect  upon  everybody  here,"  and  he  advised 


KEY  TO  "FIRST  PRAYER  IN  CONGRESS." 

1.  Rev.  Mr.  Duche,  Pa.  18.   John  de  Hart,  N.J. 

2.  Peyton  Randolph,  Va.  19.  Stephen  Hopkins,  R.I. 

3.  George  Washington,  Va.  20.  William  Livingston,  N.J. 

4.  Patrick  Henry,  Va.  21.  Thomas  McKean,  Del. 

5.  Samuel  Adams,  Mass.  22.  Roger  Sherman,  Conn. 

6.  John  Adams,  Mass.  23.  William  Paca,  Md. 

7.  Richard  Henry  Lee,  Va.  24.  Col.  William  Floyd,  N.Y. 

8.  Charles  Thomson,  Pa.  25.  Stephen  Crane,  N.J. 

9.  Edward  Rutledge,  S.C.  26.  Samuel  Chase,  Md. 

10.  Thomas  Cushing,  Mass.  27.  John  Morton,  Pa. 

11.  Eliphalet  Dyer,  Conn.  28.  Thomas  Mifflin,  Pa. 

12.  John  Rutledge,  S.C.  29.  Samuel  Ward,  R.I. 

13.  Robert  Treat  Paine,  Mass.  30.  Benjamin  Harrison,  Va. 

14.  George  Read,  Del.  31.  John  Jay,  N.Y. 

15.  Silas  Deane,  Conn.  32.  Isaac  Low,  N.Y. 

16.  Richard  Smith,  N.J.  33.  Thomas  Lynch,  S.C. 

17.  Philip  Livingston,  N.Y.  34.  Caesar  Rodney,  Del. 

H 


98  THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

all  his  friends  in  New  England  to  read  the  Psalm.  Silas 
Deane  pronounced  the  prayer  worth  riding  a  hundred 
miles  to  hear.  It  was  "  with  such  apparent  sensibility 
of  the  scenes  and  business  before  us  that  even  the 
Quakers  shed  tears."1  What  an  interesting  promise 
of  coming  union  was  this  mingling  of  the  Quaker  and 
his  lifelong  opponent,  the  Church  of  England  man,  in 
a  political  convention. 

The  letter  in  which  Samuel  Adams  described  this 
strategy  to  Dr.  Warren  was  printed  in  the  Boston  news 
papers  and  proved  that  the  Church  of  England  was  not 
arrayed  solidly. against  the  cause,  as  was  often  claimed 
in  the  northern  colonies.2  It  also  brought  the  Boston- 
ians  into  the  good  graces  of  the  Church  people.  Joseph 
Reed  called  upon  the  Boston  delegates  to  tell  them  that 
"  they  were  never  guilty  of  a  more  masterly  stroke  of  pol 
icy  than  in  moving  that  Mr.  Duche  might  read  prayers. 
It  has  had  a  very  good  effect,  etc."  Galloway,  anxious 
for  conciliation,  afterward  averred  that  Samuel  Adams, 
"by  his  superior  application,  managed  at  once  the  fac 
tions  in  Congress  at  Philadelphia  and  the  factions  in 
New  England."  The  Boston  men  managed  to  bind 
the  colonies  in  a  non-importation  and  non-exportation 
agreement  and  secured  a  pledge  of  the  continent  to 
Boston  in  the  Suffolk  resolutions.3 

1  Unfortunately,  Duche  did  not  continue  to  deserve  these  encomiums. 
When   Howe   captured    Philadelphia,  Duche  lost   courage   and  wrote   to 
Washington,  begging  him  to  ask  clemency.    He  afterward  fled  to  England, 
his  estate  was  confiscated,  and  he  was  declared  an  enemy  to  his  country. 

2  Mrs.  John  Adams  had  written  her  husband,  "  Since  the  news  of  the 
Quebec  Bill  arrived  all  the  Church  people  here  have  hung  their  heads  and 
will  not  converse  on  Politics,  though  ever  so  much  provoked  by  the  oppo 
site  party."     "  Familiar  Letters,"  etc.,  p.  30. 

3  These  were   adopted  in  reply  to  an  appeal  from  the  people  of  Suf- 


JOHN  ADAMS  99 

This  agreement  was  the  most  difficult  matter  to  adjust 
in  the  entire  session  of  Congress.  The  extent  of  country 
and  variety  of  climate  involved  caused  a  difference  of 
products  and  interests  well-nigh  irreconcilable.  The 
commercial  interests  of  the  north  could  depend  upon 
internal  trade  and  could  open  commerce  with  other 
countries  after  intercourse  with  Great  Britain  had  been 
stopped.  The  agricultural  interests  of  the  south  must 
suffer  more  keenly  when  the  planters  could  no  longer 
export  their  products  to  the  English  market  where  a 
demand  had  been  created.  As  usual,  many  of  the 
planters  had  already  anticipated  the  sales  of  the  present 
crops.  For  such  reasons,  the  non-exportation  of  certain 
articles  was  not  to  go  into  immediate  effect. 

Before  leaving  home,  the  Boston  men  had  been  cau 
tioned  to  try  to  counteract  the  "  opinion  which  does  in 
some  degree  obtain  in  the  other  colonies  that  the  Massa 
chusetts  gentlemen  and  especially  of  the  town  of  Boston 
do  effect  to  dictate  and  take  the  lead  in  Continental 
measures  ;  that  we  are  apt  from  an  inward  vanity  and 
self-control  to  assume  big  and  haughty  airs."  1  In  return 
for  the  Suffolk  resolution,  the  conservatives  had  been 
allowed  only  a  few  harmless  addresses  and  a  petition.2 

folk  county,  in  which  B0ston  was  located.  They  urged  the  Bostonians 
to  be  peaceful,  but  to  rest  assured  that  they  were  suffering  in  the  common 
cause.  The  king  pronounced  them  a  virtual  declaration  of  war  against 
him. 

1  Joseph  Hawley  to  John  Adams.     "Works  of  John  Adams,"  Vol.  IX., 
P-  344- 

2  The   Congress   drew  up  and  adopted :    a  declaration   of  rights  and 
grievances;    an  association  of  non-importation  and  non-exportation;    an 
address  to  the  people  of  Great  Britain;   an  address  to  the  inhabitants  of 
the   British   colonies;    an   address    to   the  people  of  St.  John's,   etc.;    a 
letter  to  the  colonial  agents;   an  address  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  Province 
of  Quebec;   a  petition  to  the  King's  Most  Excellent  Majesty. 


100         THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

Samuel  Adams  could  write  to  the  provincial  legisla 
ture  of  Massachusetts,  "  Things  go  without  any  motion 
of  the  Massachusetts  members,  as  perfectly  to  my 
liking  as  if  I  were  sole  director."  A  Tory  wrote, 


SIGNATURES  TO  THE  NON-IMPORTATION  AGREEMENT  OF  THE  FIRST 
CONTINENTAL  CONGRESS 

"  Adams  with  his  crew  and  the  haughty  sultans  of 
the  South  juggled  the  whole  conclave  of  the  dele 
gates,"  and  Admiral  Montague  said  :  "  I  doubt  not  but 
that  I  shall  hear  Mr.  Samuel  Adams  is  hanged  or 


JOHN  ADAMS  1 01 

shot  before  many  months  are  at  an  end.     I  hope  so, 
at  least."1 

After  almost  two  months'  continuous  sitting,  Congress 
ordered  its  proceedings  printed  and  then  adjourned,  but 
not  without  providing  for  another  session  the  following 
May,  when  the  roads  could  be  travelled.  There  was  to 
be  no  cessation  of  vigilance  whilst  danger  threatened. 

These  printed  documents  were  the  only  manifest 
results  of  the  Congress.  But  a  far  greater  end  had 
been  unconsciously  attained  in  the  opportunity  given 
representative  men  to  look  into  each  other's  faces  and 
read  each  other's  thoughts.  The  influence  of  personal 
contact  was  apparent.  Uniformity  of  ideas  could  not 
at  once  arise,  but  the  little  leaven  had  begun.  With  the 
return  of  the  delegates  to  their  homes  the  first  impulses 
of  Unionism  began  to  be  felt.  A  common  cause  made 
common  feeling.  The  beginning  of  the  making  of  the 
nation  was  at  hand. 

Opportunity  for  personal  contact  was  furnished  the 
delegates  not  alone  in  the  sessions  of  Congress  and  com 
mittee  meetings,  but  in  the  constant  round  of  entertain 
ment  furnished  them  in  the  wealthy  and  happy  city  of 
Philadelphia.  The  second  week  of  the  Congress,  a 
"  grand  entertainment "  was  given  at  the  State  House 
by  the  city  to  the  delegates,  where  "  about  five  hundred 
gentlemen  sat  down  at  once,  and  I  will  only  say,  there 
was  a  plenty  of  everything  eatable  and  drinkable  and 
no  scarcity  of  good  humor  and  diversion.  We  had, 
besides  the  delegates,  gentlemen  from  every  province 
on  the  Continent  present."  Near  the  close  of  the  ses 
sion,  the  delegates  were  given  a  banquet  at  the  City 

1  Sargent's  "  Andre,"  p.  67.  ] 


102          THE  MEN  WHO  MADE   THE  NATION 

tavern  by  the  colonial  legislature  of  Pennsylvania. 
Among  the  one  hundred  present  were  several  Quakers. 
John  Adams  was  much  amused  at  the  predicament  of 
"  two  or  three  broadbrims  over  against  me  at  table," 
when  some  one  proposed  as  a  toast  "  May  the  sword  of 
the  parent  never  be  stained  with  the  blood  of  the  chil 
dren."  "One  of  them  said,  this  is  not  a  toast,  but  a 
prayer ;  come,  let  us  join  in  it.  And  they  took  their 
glasses  accordingly." 

Washington  was  fifty-four  days  in  Philadelphia,  yet 
dined  at  his  lodgings  but  nine  times  including  Sundays. 
His  diary  confirms  the  letters  and  diaries  of  the  other 
members.  It  is  a  round  of  feasts  at  Dr.  Shippen's,  or 
Chew's,  or  Joseph  Reed's,  or  Willing's,  or  Pemberton's. 
John  Dickinson  drove  into  Philadelphia  day  after  day  in 
his  coach  drawn  by  four  white  horses  to  take  delegates 
out  to  his  beautiful  country  home  where  they  could  dine 
and  talk  politics.  Silas  Deane  apologized  to  Mrs.  Deane 
for  his  brief  letters.  "  I  am  really  hurried  and  have 
many  more  engagements  than  I  wish  for,  though  they 
are  agreeable ;  am  engaged  to  dine  out  every  day  this 
week,  once  with  Mr.  Dickinson,  and  once  with  a  Quaker 
just  married.  You  will  begin  to  suspect  we  do  nothing 
else,  but  I  assure  you  it  is  hard  work.  We  meet  at  nine 
and  sit  until  three,  by  which  time  we  are  unable  to  do 
anything  but  eat  and  drink  the  rest  of  the  day." 

John  Adams,  of  Puritanical  inheritance  and  New 
England  environment,  was  shocked  by  the  display  of 
eatables.  His  appetite  overcame  his  scruples,  although 
after  each  feast  he  scourged  himself  for  yielding.  "  A 
most  sinful  feast  again  !  everything  which  could  delight 
the  eye  or  allure  the  taste."  "A  mighty  feast  again; 


JOHN-  ADAMS  1 03 

nothing  less  than  the  very  best  of  Claret,  Madeira,  and 
Burgundy."  "A  magnificent  house,  and  a  most  splen 
did  feast  and  a  very  large  company."  "  I  drank  Ma 
deira  at  a  great  rate  and  found  no  inconvenience."  "  But 
this  plain  Friend  and  his  plain  though  pretty  wife, 
with  her  Thees  and  Thotis,  had  provided  us  the  most 
costly  entertainment ;  ducks,  hams,  chickens,  beef,  pig, 
tarts,  creams,  custards,  jellies,  fools,  trifles,  'floating 
islands,  beer,  porter,  punch,  wine,  and  a  long  &c."  At 
another  feast  he  had  "curds  and  creams,  jellies,  sweet 
meats  of  various  sorts,  twenty  sorts  of  tarts,  fools,  trifles, 
floating  islands,  whipped  sillabubs,  &c.  &c.  Parmesan 
cheese,  punch,  wine,  porter,  beer,  &c."  To  Mrs. 
Adams  he  declared  that  he  should  be  killed  with  kind 
ness  in  Philadelphia.  "  Yet,"  he  adds,  "  I  hold  out 
surprisingly." 

Evidence  is  not  wanting  that  the  broadening  of  colo 
nial  minds  under  such  circumstances  had  already  be 
gun.  Deane  wrote  home  that  if  he  ever  changed  his 
religion  he  should  turn  Quaker.  John  Adams,  perhaps 
for  the  first  time  in  his  life,  entered  a  Roman  chapel  and 
found  it  "most  awful  and  affecting."  He  was  im 
pressed  by  the  services,  the  robes,  the  music,  and  espe 
cially  the  picture  of  the  Christ  over  the  altar.  He  con 
fessed  himself  unable  to  conceive  how  the  Reformation 
had  succeeded  against  such  powerful  agencies.  Before 
he  came  to  Philadelphia  he  had  made  many  uncompli 
mentary  allusions  in  his  writings  about  the  cool,  calcu 
lating  people  of  that  city.  But  when  he  departed,  he 
wrote  :  "  Took  our  departure,  in  a  very  great  rain,  from 
the  happy,  the  peaceful,  the  elegant,  the  hospitable,  and 
polite  city  of.  Philadelphia.  It  is  not  very  likely  that  I 


104         THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

shall  ever  see  this  part  of  the  world  again,  but  I  shall 
ever  retain  a  most  grateful,  pleasing  sense  of  the  many 
civilities  I  have  received  in  it,  and  shall  tnink  myself 
happy  to  have  an  opportunity  of  returning  them."  1 

Government  in  England  was  unlikely  to  be  influenced 
by  resolutions  and  addresses  from  an  irregular  if  not 
revolutionary  gathering  in  the  colonies.  Some  thought 
the  members  should  have  been  brought  to  trial.  In  any 
event,  Parliament  took  no  healing  action  during  the 
winter,  and  the  people  of  America  passed  rapidly  to 
advanced  ground.  Just  before  the  delegates  bade  fare 
well  to  each  other,  John  Adams  had  shown  to  Patrick 
Henry  a  letter  from  Joseph  Hawley  of  Massachusetts, 
in  which  the  opinion  was  expressed  that  "  after  all  we 
must  fight."  Henry,  with  an  oath,  declared  himself  to  be 
of  that  man's  mind,  and  he  went  home  to  ring  the 
changes  on  the  words.  "  We  must  fight  "  spread  from 
colony  to  colony.  Even  Georgia,  an  unprotected  fron 
tier,  dependent  upon  the  bounty  of  the  king  and  so  pre 
vented  from  taking  part  in  the  first  Congress,  began  to 
be  aroused.  Old  arms  were  brightened  up,  ammuni 
tion  was  stored  in  secret  places,  and,  especially  in  popu 
lous  Massachusetts,  men  were  drilled  to  rush  to  Boston 
at  a  "  minute's  warning." 

The  people  of  Boston  saw  no  change  save  additional 

1  It  was  unlikely  that  all  the  inhabitants  of  Philadelphia  would  recipro 
cate  this  feeling  of  Congress.  Just  after  it  closed,  this  stanza  appeared  : 

"  Can  public  Virtue  by  me  stand 
See  Faction  stalking  through  the  Land? 

Faction  that  Fiend,  begot  in  H 

In  Boston  nurs'd  —  here  brought  to  dwell 
By  Congress,  who,  in  airy  Freak 
Conven'd  to  plan  a  Republick  ?  " 


JOHN  ADAMS  105 

soldiers  and  additional  fortifications  as  time  went  on. 
General  Gage  had  three  thousand  soldiers  to  feed  and 
sometimes  feared  lest  he  be  starved  out.  At  other 
times  he  was  apprehensive  of  an  attack  from  the  fifteen 
thousand  "  minute-men "  reported  ready  for  action. 
Unwillingly  he  undertook  the  dangerous  and  humiliating 
task,  suggested  by  the  ministry,  of  disarming  the  rebels. 
But  the  patriots  seemed  to  get  warning  of  every  sally  of 
the  troops,  and  the  small  amount  of  stores  destroyed 
made  the  attempts  ridiculous. 

Early  in  the  spring  it  was  rumored  that  a  disarming 
expedition  was  contemplated  out  Concord  way,  the  hot 
bed  of  the  rebels.  On  Sunday,  April  16,  Paul  Revere 
rode  quietly  out  to  Lexington  and  warned  Samuel 
Adams  and  John  Hancock,  the  proscribed  rebels,  of 
their  danger.  The  following  Tuesday  the  rumor  be 
came  a  certainty.  Some  say  that  Mrs.  Gage,  who  had 
been  a  native  of  New  Jersey,  betrayed  the  secret.  Oth 
ers  think  that  the  careless  remark  of  a  British  hostler 
to  a  blacksmith,  who  chanced  to  be  a  Son  of  Liberty, 
showed  that  British  troops  were  to  start  for  Concord 
that  night.  Dr.  Warren,  uncertain  which  road  they 
would  take,  sent  off  Dawes  at  two  in  the  afternoon  by 
the  Neck  *  to  warn  the  people  and  especially  to  notify 
Adams  and  Hancock.  He  also  ordered  Revere  to  be  in 
readiness  on  the  Charlestown  side  at  midnight. 

"  One  if  by  land,"  and  Revere  need  not  have  gone. 
But  two  lanterns  shone  from  the  Christ  Church  steeple. 

1  The  narrow  isthmus  by  which  Boston  was  in  those  days  connected 
with  the  mainland.  Dawes  reached  Lexington  about  midnight,  just  after 
Revere  came  in.  The  lament  of  Dawes,  because  no  poet  has  written  of  his 
ride,  may  be  found  in  the  Century  Magazine  for  February,  1896,  under  the 
title,  "  What's  in  a  Name?  " 


106         THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

"  Two  if  by  sea,"  and  Revere  dashed  off  whilst  the 
troops  rowed  "by  sea"  across  to  Charlestovvn.  At  day 
break  they  met  a  handful  of  Americans  on  the  green  at 
Lexington,  and  before  high  noon  had  encountered  the 
"embattled  farmers"  at  the  bridge  just  beyond  the  vil 
lage  of  Concord.  Then  they  began  that  awful  return 
to  Boston.  "  Seventy-three  killed,  one  hundred  and 
seventy-four  wounded,  and  twenty-six  missing,  and 
probably  prisoners,"  was  the  record  made  by  the  out 
raged  farmers  as  they  ran  along  and  knelt  behind  the 
stone  fences  bordering  the  New  England  highway. 

"Near  10  of  the  Clock"  that  spring  morning,  even 
before  the  first  gun  had  been  fired  at  Concord,  the  effi 
ciency  of  the  patriot  machinery  was  demonstrated. 
Trail  Bissel  had  started  from  Watertown  with  a  notice 
from  the  committee  of  correspondence  "charged  to 
alarm  the  country  quite  to  Connecticut "  about  the  skir 
mish  at  Lexington.  "  A  True  Coppy  taken  from  the 
Original  "  was  endorsed  on  the  paper  at  Worcester  as  the 
bearer  sped  onward.  At  eleven  the  following  morning 
the  news  reached  Brookline,  and  at  four  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon  it  was  at  Norwich,  Connecticut.  The  New 
London  committee  endorsed  it  at  seven  o'clock  that 
night,  and  those  of  Lyme  an  hour  after  midnight. 
Through  Saybrook,  Killingsworth,  East  Guilford,  Guil- 
ford,  Brandford,  New  Haven,  to  Fairfield,  it  was  passed 
to  be  overtaken  by  a  second  message  bearing  news  of 
the  later  battle  at  Concord.  "  It  wild  [will]  be  Expedi 
ent  for  every  man  to  go  who  is  fit  &  willing,"  added 
the  committee.  Sunday  afternoon  at  four  o'clock  the 
travel-stained  paper  was  in  the  New  York  committee 
chamber,  having  come  from  Watertown  in  a  trifle  over 


g»te 

~~a>t£-  G/f/ttn/fni 

y*     /^\        *  / 


w-  fc/tUZt 


^      r      **>„        ^      o,<n,Vp«  t      ^,,     '<  ^ 
"fur   /#  fti^-itsj/??  Si<.S>f,tiJ('/ie>>l(&/«'<?/tnJ/ 


SPREADING  THE  ALARM  AFTER  LEXINGTON 


108          THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

four  days.  The  following  day  it  reached  Philadelphia1 
and  thence  was  passed  southward  to  Charleston,  South 
Carolina.  Eight  days  after  this  "  battle  of  the  minute- 
men,"  Richard  Denby,  of  Salem,  sailed  for  England  with 
the  news,  and  on  June  I  it  was  in  the  London  news 
papers. 

The  response  of  America  was  immediate.  Israel  Put 
nam  left  his  farm  work  and  led  his  men  toward  Boston. 
Dr.  Warren  left  his  patients  in  the  care  of  another  phy 
sician  and  went  out  of  Boston  never  to  return.  Brave 
Benedict  Arnold  assembled  the  sixty  members  of  his 
Governor's  Guard  on  the  New  Haven  green,  and,  after 
browbeating  the  governor  into  giving  them  ammunition, 
started  for  Cambridge.  Colonel  John  Stark  and  his 
fellow-farmers  were  on  the  way  from  New  Hampshire. 
Colonel  Thompson  and  his  green-coated  sharpshooters 
soon  started  from  Philadelphia.  On  May  i,  the  "  associa 
tions  "  of  that  city  formed  themselves  into  regular  military 
companies,  and  two  days  later  a  Quaker  company  under 
Captain  Humphries  began  to  drill  in  the  factory  yard. 
When  the  delegates  to  the  second  Congress  reached 
Philadelphia,  after  a  triumphal  journey,  they  found 
three  thousand  young  men  under  arms,  the  drum  and 
fife  sounding  in  every  street,  and  Silas  Deane  declared 
his  "brainpan  "  was  "  echoing  to  the  beat." 

The  Congress  which  met  in  the  State  House  in  Phila 
delphia  in  this  second  session  was  quite  different  from 
the  one  which  had  adjourned  the  previous  autumn, 
although  the  membership  was  largely  the  same.  New 

1  One  of  these  alarms,  or  a  copy  of  it,  is  preserved  in  the  museum  of 
the  Pennsylvania  Historical  Society  at  Philadelphia.  The  first  page  is 
reproduced  herewith.  One  of  Bancroft's  best  passages  ("  History  of  the 
United  States,"  Vol.  IV.,  p.  167)  was  written  on  the  spread  of  this  news. 


JOHN  ADAMS  109 

conditions  demanded  different  actions.  Many  of  the 
members  heard  of  Concord  and  Lexington  while  on 
their  way  to  Philadelphia.  Their  worst  fears  were  real 
ized.  Men  had  been  shot  down  by  a  government  ma 
rauding  party  in  those  New  England  villages.  The 
tragedy  might  be  repeated  on  any  green  or  beside  any 
bridge  on  the  continent.  It  was  a  national  danger. 
For  the  first  time  a  national  agency  was  demanded. 
Therefore,  the  Congress,  which  had  adjourned  after 
petitioning  and  addressing,  now  became  the  agency  of 
the  helpless  colonies.  It  assumed  authority,  and  the 
people  quietly  acquiesced.  Day  by  day  the  actions 
grew  more  defiant  and  even  aggressive. 

When  Peyton  Randolph,  the  president  of  Congress, 
was  called  home  to  preside  over  the  Virginia  House  of 
Burgesses,  the  Continental  Congress  seemed  to  take 
delight  in  making  John  Hancock,  the  proclaimed  rebel, 
their  president.  They  resolved  that  "  these  colonies  be 
immediately  put  into  a  state  of  defence  " ;  and  that  "  the 
militia  of  New  York  be  armed  and  trained."  They 
ordered  the  papers  of  a  British  officer  to  be  opened  and 
read.  When  Massachusetts  informed  them  that  her 
civil  government  was  broken  up  and  requested  direc 
tions,  they  advised  her  people  to  choose  an  independent 
Assembly  which  they  were  to  obey  until  a  governor 
should  be  appointed  by  the  king  who  "  will  consent  to 
govern  the  colonies  according  to  its  charter."  J  They 
began  to  take  measures  to  raise  money  for  the  war. 
They  prepared  rules  for  governing  the  army. 

Day  by  day  they  were  driven  into  advanced   steps. 

1  This  was  the  real  beginning  of  the  transformation  of  the  colonies  into 
states. 


110          THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

The  rude  crowd  of  minute-men  and  imperfectly  organ 
ized  companies  which  had  run  to  the  relief  of  Boston 
was  gathered  about  Cambridge,  devoid  of  training, 
order,  and  discipline.  The  most  intense  rivalry  and 
jealousy  were  manifest  between  colonies  there  repre 
sented.  Men  of  one  colony  refused  to  obey  orders 
from  an  officer  foreign  to  themselves.  All  was  confu 
sion.  When  a  detachment  was  sent  to  fortify  Bunker 
Hill,  it  took  the  liberty  of  fortifying  Breed's  Hill,  half  a 
mile  nearer  the  enemy.  This  change  eventually  proved 
fortunate,  but  the  disobedience  showed  the  necessity  for 
a  commander-in-chief. 

Since  Massachusetts  was  most  .concerned,  it  was 
proper  that  John  Adams  should  offer  a  motion  for  the 
appointment  of  a  head  of  the  army.  The  fitness  of 
Colonel  George  Washington,  of  the  Virginia  militia,  for 
such  a  position  had  long  been  discussed.  The  appoint 
ment  would  be  a  worthy  tribute  to  Virginia,  which  was 
so  nobly  supporting  Massachusetts.  Washington  had 
come  to  the  second  Congress  wearing  his  colonel's  uni 
form,  and  had  been  escorted  into  Philadelphia  by  five 
hundred  officers  and  gentlemen  on  horseback,  and  by 
riflemen  and  infantry,  with  bands  of  music.  When  Adams 
in  his  speech  referred  to  "a  gentleman  from  Virginia" 
as  a  suitable  appointment  if  the  motion  should  pass, 
Washington  who  was  sitting  near  the  door  "from  his 
usual  modesty,  darted  into  the  library-room."  Yet  so 
strong  was  the  sectional  feeling  that  the  election  had  to 
be  postponed  until  a  majority  could  be  secured  by  private 
conference.  The  statement  of  John  Adams  that  Presi 
dent  Hancock,  the  former  colonel  of  the  Boston  Cadets, 
desired  the  position  and  showed  in  his  countenance 


JOHN  ADAMS  1 1 1 

"mortification  and  resentment,"  is  not  supported  by 
other  testimony.1 

There  was  no  hesitation  on  the  part  of  Congress 
after  the  appointment  of  Washington  and  the  battle  of 
Bunker  Hill.  They  established  a  navy,  issued  paper 
money,  organized  rudimentary  courts,  sent  Silas  Deane 
to  secure  aid  from  France,  authorized  the  colonies  to 
set  up  state  governments,  besides  many  other  high  acts 
of  sovereignty  —  all  of  which  the  colonies  or  states  had 
to  accept  in  the  hour  of  necessity. 

Public  sentiment  began  to  turn  rapidly  toward  inde 
pendence.  The  petition  to  the  king,  sent  over  after  the 
battle  of  Bunker  Hill,  breathing  such  sentiment  for  rec 
onciliation  that  the  petitioners  called  it  their  "  olive 
branch,"  brought  from  the  king  a  proclamation  that  the 
.colonies  were  in  a  state  of  rebellion.  John  Adams 
declared  he  expected  no  other  results ;  but  it  broke  the 
conservatives.2  Some  went  in  with  the  radicals  ;  others 
cast  their  lot  with  the  Tories,  as  those  who  favored 
yielding  to  Parliament  and  the  king  were  called. 

John  Jay  afterward  declared  that  he  never  heard 
independence  wished  for  until  after  the  rejection  of  the 
second  petition.  Washington,  who  is  sometimes  said 
never  to  have  made  a  pun,  wrote  from  the  head  of  the 
army,  "A  few  more  such  flaming  arguments  as  were 
exhibited  at  Falmouth  and  Norfolk  3  added  to  the  sound 

1  This  subject  is  treated  in  Sparks's  "  Washington,"  Vol.  III.,  p.  479. 
Also  in  Curtis's  "  History  of  the  Constitution,"  new  edition,  Vol.  I.,  p.  27. 

2  Dickinson,  of  Pennsylvania,  was  allowed  to  draw  up  the  petition,  and 
it  was  passed  out  of  consideration  for  him  and  other  conservative  members. 
Harrison  declared  that  it  contained  but  one  word  of  which  he  approved 
—  "  Congress." 

3  Falmouth,  now  Portland,  Maine,  and  Norfolk,  Virginia,  were  burned 
by  the  British.     This  action,  together  with  the  employment  of  the  Hessian 


112 


THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 


doctrine  and  unanswerable  arguments  contained  in  the 
pamphlet  '  Common  Sense,'  will  not  leave  numbers  at  a 
loss  to  decide  on  the  propriety  of  a  separation."  The 
pen  of  Thomas  Paine,  enlisted  in  the  cause  by  Franklin 


Franklin  Sherman 

R.  R.  Livingston 

THE  COMMITTEE  ON  THE  DECLARATION  OF  INDEPENDENCE! 


John  Adams 
Jefferson 


in  England,  was  putting  out  "  Common  Sense  "  in  weekly 
chapters,  undoubtedly  acting  upon  the  minds  of  the  mass 
of  people  by  its  simple  pleadings  for  independence. 
The  Scotch  in  Mecklenburg  county,  North  Carolina, 

mercenaries,   did  much  to  alienate  the  people  of  the  colonies  from  the 
mother  country. 

1  From  an  old  engraving  in  the  Public  Library,  Pontiac,  Illinois. 


JOHN  ADAMS  113 

had  argued  that  they  were  absolved  from  allegiance  by 
the  action  of  the  king  and  Parliament.  Mrs.  John 
Adams,  reading  Rollin's  "Ancient  History"  to  her  little 
son  John  Quincy,  and  acting  as  "farm  woman"  in  the 
absence  of  her  husband  in  Congress,  wrote  to  him  :  "  Let 
us  separate.  Let  us  renounce  them  and  instead  of  sup 
plication  as  formerly,  let  us  beseech  the  Almighty  to  blast 
their  counsels  and  bring  to  naught  all  their  devices." 
And  John  Adams  worked  incessantly  to  that  end. 
When  Dickinson,  Jay,  and  Duane  tried  to  show  the 
folly  of  voting  themselves  independent  before  securing 
aid  from  some  foreign  power,  Adams  at  once  replied  that 
no  foreign  power  would  make  alliance  with  the  revolt 
ing  colonies  of  Great  Britain,  but  would  do  so  with  an 
independent  people. 

The  efforts  of  John  Adams  for  independence  were  so 
obnoxious  to  many  that  he  declared  himself  "  avoided, 
like  a  man  infected  with  leprosy.  I  walked  the  streets 
of  Philadelphia  in  solitude,  borne  down  by  the  weight  of 
care  and  unpopularity."  Dr.  Rush  testified  to  having 
seen  him  walk  the  streets  alone,  an  object  of  nearly  uni 
versal  scorn  and  detestation.  Adams  was  keen  enough 
to  see  that  the  advice  to  the  various  colonies l  to  set  up 
governments  of  their  own  was  in  effect  independence. 
But  the  multitude  waited  for  the  overt  act. 

Virginia  joined  hands  with  Massachusetts  as  usual. 
June  7,  Richard  Henry  Lee  moved  "certain  resolu 
tions  concerning  independency,"  and  the  first  of  these, 
"  that  these  colonies  are  and  of  right  ought  to  be  free 
and  independent  states,"  was  postponed  to  July  I.  But, 
as  the  minutes  say,  "in  the  meanwhile,  that  no  time 

1  Passed  May  15,  1776. 
I 


114          THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

be  lost,  in  case  the  Congress  agree  thereto,  that  a  com 
mittee  be  appointed  to  prepare  a  declaration."  It  was 
quite  common  in  Congress  to  issue  a  declaration  to 
justify  an  action  or  to  set  forth  rights. 

This  committee,  like  others,  was  chosen  by  ballot,  and 
it  was  found  that  Thomas  Jefferson  had  the  highest 
number  of  votes.  He  was,  it  was  said,  the  second 
youngest  member,  but  had  already  gained  a  reputation 
as  a  writer  in  the  Congress,  where,  at  that  time,  most 
talent  seemed  to  lie  in  speaking.  He  had  been  active 
in  all  the  early  movements  of  Virginia  but  had  not  come 
into  Congress  until  after  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill. 
During  his  first  year  in  Congress  he  had  not  uttered 
three  sentences  together,  according  to  John  Adams.  It 
is  questionable  whether  he  appreciated  fully  the  fame 
which  the  future  would  place  upon  the  words  he  wrote 
in  the  second  story  of  his  boarding  house.1  It  was  but 
one  of  many  "declarations,"  a  simple  statement  of  the 
grievances  of  the  colonies.  It  was  no  more  original  than 
was  Magna  Charta.  The  indictment  against  the  king 
was  but  a  "  history  of  repeated  injuries  and  usurpations  " 
as  the  colonists  had  from  time  to  time  written  it  in 
their  resolutions  and  political  writings.  Many  parts  of 
the  Declaration  can  be  found  word  for  word  elsewhere. 
Hence  the  rumor  which  probably  will  never  die  out  that 
Thomas  Paine  or  John  Adams  or  Benjamin  Franklin 
was  the  author  of  the  Declaration.2 

1  Jefferson   was    at    this   time    lodging   with    one    Graf,    a    bricklayer, 
recently  married,  who  lived  in  a  three-story  brick    dwelling   on    Market 
street.      Jefferson  occupied  the  second  story,  taking  his  meals  at  Smith's. 
The  Philadelphians  have  marked  the  site  with  a  tablet,  as  they  have  done 
in  the  case  of  other  historic  points  in  their  city. 

2  Some   of  this   controversy   should   be    quieted   by  the  copy  of  the 


JEFFERSON'S  DRAFT  OF  THE  DECLARATION  OF  INDEPENDENCE 


Il6         THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

The  passing  of  the  Declaration  was  unimportant ;  a 
greater  contest  had  centred  about  the  motion  for  inde 
pendence.  It  was  one  of  the  most  bitter  political  fights 
in  the  history  of  America.  States  were  divided.  Dele 
gates  were  recalled  and  new  ones  chosen  in  their  stead. 
Caesar  Rodney  made  a  wild  ride  from  Delaware  to  Phil 
adelphia  to  cast  a  deciding  vote  for  his  state  divided 
on  this  great  question.  On  July  2,  the  motion  was 
passed,  and  on  the  4th  the  Declaration  was  adopted. 
Yet  neither  created  the  enthusiasm  and  excitement  which 
tradition  has  attributed  to  those  two  days. 

The  Pennsylvania  Packet  of  July  2  printed  in  two 
lines  with  many  capital  letters  the  news  that  the  colonies 
had  that  day  declared  themselves  free  and  independent. 
On  Saturday  the  6th,  the  same  paper  printed  the  Dec 
laration  in  full  —  the  first  appearance  of  the  document 
in  a  newspaper.  Possibly  from  the  same  type  was 
printed  the  "broadside"  or  single  sheet  distributed 
throughout  the  continent  and  read  at  the  head  of  the 
army.  Upon  notice  given  by  the  Philadelphia  Com 
mittee  of  Inspection,  "  a  vast  concourse  "  of  people  as 
sembled  in  the  State  House  yard  (Square)  on  Monday 
following  at  high  noon  to  listen  to  the  reading  of  the 
Declaration  by  John  Nixon.  As  he  stood  upon  the 
temporary  platform  which  had  been  erected  for  observ 
ing  the  transit  of  Venus,  the  crowd  heard  him  with  "  three 

Declaration  in  Jefferson's  own  handwriting,  discovered  among  his  papers. 
It  was  the  first  draft,  and  shows  not  only  the  corrections  made  by  the  other 
members  of  the  committee,  John  Adams,  Franklin,  Sherman,  and  R.  R. 
Livingston,  but  also  the  many  alterations  made  by  the  Congress  in  com 
mittee  of  the  whole.  It  is  preserved  in  the  Department  of  State,  Wash 
ington.  The  first  page  is  reproduced  herewith.  John  Adams  gives  credi/ 
to  Jefferson.  See  Adams's  "  Works,"  Vol.  II.,  p.  511. 


JOHN  ADAMS  117 

repeated  huzzas."  The  king's  arms  were  then  taken  down 
from  the  court  room  in  the  State  House  and  placed  on 
a  pile  of  burning  casks.  At  five  o'clock  the  Declaration 
was  read  to  each  of  the  five  battalions  on  the  Commons. 
That  night  there  were  bonfires,  ringing  of  bells,  and 
other  great  demonstrations  of  joy  upon  the  unanimity 
and  agreement  of  the  Declaration.1  Similar  demonstra 
tions  occurred  in  Boston,  and  the  Declaration  was  read 
from  many  pulpits.  In  the  southern  colonies,  people 
assembled  in  various  places  to  attend  the  reading. 

But  graver  duties  faced  Congress  and  the  people 
than  huzzaing  and  rejoicing.  The  form  of  a  Union 
had  been  created ;  it  had  still  to  win  its  right  to  exist 
ence.  An  invading  enemy  had  to  be  driven  off.  The 
infantile  resources  of  a  new  country  were  yet  to  demon 
strate  that  they  could  endure  the  exhausting  demands 
of  a  war.  Above  all,  the  young  republic  had  to  demon 
strate  that  it  could  form  a  new  plan  of  government 
which  should  effectively  replace  the  old,  serving  equally 
well  in  time  of  war  and  in  time  of  peace.  But  John 
Adams,  transported  by  the  end  he  had  so  long  worked 
for,  wrote  to  Mrs.  Adams : 

"The  second  day  of  July,  1776,  will  be  the  most  memorable 
epoch  in  the  history  of  America.  I  am  apt  to  believe  that  it 
will  be  celebrated  by  succeeding  generations  as  the  great 
anniversary  festival.  It  ought  to  be  commemorated  as  the 
day  of  deliverance,  by  solemn  acts  of  devotion  to  God  Almighty. 
It  ought  to  be  solemnized  with  pomp  and  parade,  with  shows, 
games,  sports,  guns,  bells,  bonfires,  and  illuminations,  from  one 

1  Condensed  from  the  "  Diary  of  Christopher  Marshall,"  a  retired  drug 
gist  of  Philadelphia.  Many  editions  of  this  invaluable  journal  have  been 
printed. 


Il8          THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

end  of  this  continent  to  the  other,  from  this  time  forward  for- 
evermore. 

"  You  will  think  me  transported  with  enthusiasm,  but  I  am 
not.  I  am  well  aware  of  the  toil  and  blood  and  treasure  that 
it  will  cost  us  to  maintain  this  Declaration  and  support  and 
defend  these  States.  Yet,  through  all  the  gloom,  I  can  see 
the  rays  of  ravishing  light  and  glory.  I  can  see  that  the  end 
is  more  than  worth  all  the  means.  And  that  posterity  will 
triumph  in  that  day's  transaction,  even  although  we  should  rue 
it,  which  I  trust  in  God  we  shall  not."  l 

1  "The  Works  of  John  Adams,"  Vol.  IX.,  p.  420.  "  Familiar  Letters," 
etc.,  p.  193.  This  letter  is  frequently  misquoted,  as  it  was  first  printed,  refer 
ring  to  the  fourth  day  of  July.  General  custom,  however,  has  come  to 
celebrate  that  day  instead  of  the  day  of  passing  the  resolution  of  Inde 
pendence. 


CHAPTER   IV 

ROBERT    MORRIS,    THE    FINANCIER    OF    THE    REVOLUTION 

"  The  contest  we  were  engaged  in  appeared  to  me  in  the  first  in 
stance  just  and  necessary  ;  therefore  I  took  an  active  part  in  it.  As 
it  became  dangerous,  I  thought  it  the  more  glorious  and  was  stimu 
lated  to  the  greatest  exertions  in  my  power  when  the  affairs  of 
America  were  at  their  darkest."  . 

—  ROBERT  MORRIS  to  his  Enemies,  1789. 

WHEN  the  Congress  adopted  the  army  about  Boston 
and  undertook  to  carry  on  the  war,  it  had  no  treasury, 
no  mint,  no  mines,  and  no  cash  save  that  which  had 
not  been  drained  into  England's  purse  by  the  laws  of 
trade.  It  was  impossible  to  determine  the  amount  of 
money  in  the  colonies.  John  Adams  says  they  found 
only  a  few  thousands  in  the  several  treasuries  since 
the  debt  of  the  last  French  war  had  just  been  paid. 
Hamilton  thought  they  had  about  thirty  millions,  of 
which  only  eight  millions  were  specie.  Noah  Webster 
supposed  that  the  specie  amounted  to  ten  millions.  The 
paper  money,  issued  by  the  various  colonies,  could  be 
counted  of  little  value.  Their  coast  would  soon  be 
blockaded  ;  their  foreign  trade  would  be  cut  off ;  and 
their  home  industries  would  be  interrupted  by  the 
invading  enemy.  They  turned  to  the  easiest  expedient 
—  the  printing  of  paper  bills  of  credit  or  promises  to 
pay  in  the  future  the  sums  called  for. 

119 


120 


THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 


The  week  following  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill,  Con 
gress  began  its  financial  history  by  authorizing  the 
printing  of  bills  representing  two  million  Spanish  milled 
dollars,  in  denominations  ranging  from  a  one-dollar  to 
a  twenty-dollar  bill.  It  was  apportioned  for  redemption 
among  the  twelve  colonies  represented  according  to  a 
rough  estimate  of  the  number  of  inhabitants  in  each. 
To  Virginia  was  assigned  the  most  and  to  Delaware 


FRONT  AND  BACK  OF  CONTINENTAL  MONEY 

the  least.  Each  colony  must  begin  to  redeem  its  share 
and  to  pay  the  coin  called  for  at  the  end  of  four  years. 
Then  in  three  more  annual  payments  the  paper  money 
was  all  to  be  called  in.  When  redeemed,  each  bill  was 
to  be  cut  through  the  middle  with  a  circular  punch  an 
inch  in  diameter,  and  when  returned  to  Congress  to  be 
publicly  burned. 

The  money  was  so  easily  procured  and  the  demands 
upon  the  treasury  for  war  contingencies  so  urgent  that 


ROBERT  MORRIS  121 

within  five  months  three  millions  more  were  issued. 
At  no  period  in  American  history  is  there  a  better 
illustration  of  the  most  pernicious  feature  of  paper 
money.  It  is  so  easy  to  make  that  satiety  is  never 
reached.  Of  course,  Congress  found  more  demands, 
and  the  necessary  votes  were  passed  and  the  printing 
presses  kept  in  motion  until  they  had  put  forth  promises 
to  pay  two  hundred  millions  of  dollars. 

The  method  of  redeeming  its  share  of  the  money  was 
left  to  each  colony,  and  it  was  presumed  that  this  would 
be  done  by  local  taxation.  But  the  word  "tax"  was 
just  as  odious  as  it  ever  had  been.  Indeed  the  colonists 
were  fighting  a  war  to  keep  the  Parliament  from  taxing 
them. l  Many  of  the  less  informed  among  the  people 
really  believed  that  a  tax-gatherer  would  never  be  seen 
again  in  America.  Benjamin  Franklin  and  others 
begged  Congress  to  stop  the  presses  and  get  permis 
sion  from  their  constituents  to  tax  them.  In  one  of 
the  debates,  Pelatiah  Webster2  says  that  a  member 
of  Congress  rose  and  said,  "  Do  you  think,  Gentlemen, 
that  I  would  consent  to  load  my  constituents  with  taxes 

1  A  broadside,  issued  in  Philadelphia,  said,  "  Cursed  be  the  Congress 
man  or  men  who  dare  tax  the  free  men  of  North  America."     A  stanza 
went  the  rounds  after  the  end  of  the  war : 

"  The  land  was  doubly  tax'd,  we  thought, 
To  carry  on  the  war; 
Now  war  is  to  a  period  brought, 
Still  more  the  taxes  are. 
Strange  conduct  this,  all  must  allow  — 
Hush  !  let  your  murmurs  cease; 
You  pay  the  double  taxes  now 
To  carry  on  the  peace." 

2  Webster  was  a  Philadelphia  merchant  and  essay  writer  on  political 
and  economic  subjects.     His  collected  essays  were  published  under  the 
title  "  Political  Essays  on  the  Nature  and  Operation  of  Money,  etc." 


122          THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

when  we  can  send  to  our  printer  and  get  a  wagon-load 
of  money,  one  quire  of  which  will  pay  for  the  whole  ? " 

The  demands  from  the  army  were  urgent.  Reenlist- 
ments  could  be  secured  only  by  bounties.  A  deputy 
paymaster  in  New  Jersey  complained  that  he  led  "  a 
Doggs  life  "  in  camp  without  money. l  Sometimes  in 
an  urgency  the  paper  money  was  sent  out  in  boxes 
which  rubbed  top  and  bottom  sheets,  entailing  loss  and 
confusion.  Bills  of  large  denomination  were  at  times 
packed  in  the  middle  of  reams  of  a  smaller  value  by 
mistake.  The  clerks  employed  to  supplement  the  com 
mittee  in  signing  the  bills,  although  paid  by  the  hun 
dred,  could  not  keep  up  with  the  printing  presses  nor 
with  the  demands. 

The  redemption  was  to  begin  in  1 779,  but  before  that 
date  the  money  began  to  fall  of  its  own  weight.  Jef 
ferson  thought  that  even  gold  or  silver  would  have 
fallen  if  issued  in  such  quantities.2  Public  confidence 
was  lost  because  no  state  had  taken  effective  steps  to 
redeem  its  share,  and  the  portions  of  some  states  were 
never  even  signed.  In  the  beginning  of  1780,  it  required 
twenty  dollars  in  paper  to  equal  a  dollar  in  specie. 
Congress  again  gave  assurance  that  it  would  all  be 
eventually  redeemed.  Six  months  later  it  fell  to  forty 
to  one.  Congress  now  repudiated  its  own  promises 
by  calling  in  the  old  bills  and  giving  new  ones  at 
the  rate  of  one  new  dollar  for  forty  old  ones.  But  it 
would  still  be  a  paper  dollar,  and  little  came  in.  Instead, 
it  went  down  to  seventy-five  to  one  and  by  the  opening 

1  Manuscript  letter  in   the  "  Peters   Papers,"  Pennsylvania   Historical 
Society  Museum. 

2  In  his  "Works"  (H.  A.  Washington,  Ed.),  Vol.  IX.,  p.  248. 


ROBERT  MORRIS  123 

of  1781  to  six  hundred  and  in  the  rural  districts  to 
sixteen  hundred  to  one. 1 

As  soon  as  hard  money  came  into  extra  demand, 
people  began  to  hoard  it.  As  was  truly  said  the  cam 
paigns  of  1778  were  fought  on  less  than  a  wheelbarrow 
load  of  hard  money.  From  time  to  time,  Congress  was 
accustomed  to  send  demands  to  the  states  for  their  re 
spective  quotas  or  shares  of  the  public  expense.  But 
when  a  state  was  invaded  by  the  enemy  it  could  not 
secure  the  money,  and  when  it  was  in  no  danger,  it  felt 
no  urgency  in  heeding  the  call.  In  vain  Congress 
begged  that  they  contribute  corn,  flour,  rum,  hay,  beef, 
pork,  or  grain  to  the  needy  army.  At  length  in  des 
peration  a  law  was  passed  which  urged  states  to  author 
ize  the  seizure  of  supplies,  certificates  being  issued  for 
future  payment. 

Loan  offices  were  opened  and  the  patriotism  of  the 
people  appealed  to,  but  few  had  any  money  to  lend  the 
government,  and  those  who  had  regarded  such  an 
investment  as  a  very  bad  one.  Lottery  books  were 
opened  and  promises  of  great  fortunes  were  held  out 
by  investing  in  United  States  lottery  tickets.2 

1  The  contempt  into  which  the  Continental  money  fell  is  shown  in  the 
saying,  "  Not  worth  a  Continental."     In  a  circular  issued  by  the  treasurer 
of  the  United  States  in  1898,  it  is  said  that  •'  what  is  known  as  '  Continental 
Currency'  was  never  redeemable  by  the  United  States."     In  Hamilton's 
funding  scheme,  it  was  received  as  subscriptions  to  a  loan  at  the  rate  of 
one  hundred  paper  dollars  for  one  dollar  in  specie.     No  doubt  the  exten 
sive  counterfeiting,  which  rendered  uncertain  the  authenticity  of  any  exist 
ing  Continental  money,  militated  against  its  redemption,  as  well  the  act  of 
July  9,  1798,  which  barred  these  old  claims. 

2  Three  lotteries  were  ordered  by  the  national  government.     The  first 
drawing  took  place  at  College  Hall,  Philadelphia,  August  1 1,  1777.     In 
order  to  realize  the  entire  sum  of  the  sale  of  tickets,  the   winners  of  the 
larger  prizes  were  given  due  bills  on  Congress,  payable  in  five  years. 


124          THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

Prominent  on  the  committees  in  these  different  finan 
cial  expedients  of  Congress  was  the  name  of  "  Rob* 
Morris."  He  had  been  brought  from  England  to 
America  when  but  six  years  of  age  and  while  yet  a 
lad  was  placed  in  the  importing  house  of  Willing  & 
Co.,  in  mercantile  Philadelphia.  Here  he  showed  such 


LOTTERY  BOOK  OF  THE  CONTINENTAL  CONGRESS  l 

ability  that  at  twenty-one  he  became  partner  with  his 
employer's  son.  The  firm  of  Willing  &  Morris  trans 
acted  business  for  upwards  of  forty  years  and  was 
known  far  and  wide  in  the  trading  world.  Equal  for 
tune  smiled  on  Morris  when  he  married  Mary  White, 
whose  brother  had  entered  the  ministry  of  the  Estab 
lished  church  and  later  became  the  Episcopal  bishop  of 
Pennsylvania. 

1  In  the  Museum  of  the  Library  of  Congress,  Washington. 


ROBERT  MORRIS  12$ 

Being  bound  to  the  mother  country  by  birth,  it  would 
be  only  natural  that  Morris  should  choose  the  side  of 
the  king.  His  large  business  interests  also  allied  him 
with  law  and  order  rather  than  rebellion.  Yet  his  firm 
adopted  the  non-importation  agreement  of  Philadelphia 
at  the  time  of  the  Stamp  Act  troubles,  and  Morris  was 
on  the  committee  which  compelled  the  stamp  agent, 
Hughes,  to  resign.  When  a  patriot's  house  in  Mary 
land  was  burned,  and  the  Sons  of  Liberty  undertook 
to  rebuild  it,  Robert  Morris  was  one  of  the  largest 
contributors.  However,  the  violent  destruction  of  the 
tea  in  Boston  could  not  favorably  impress  a  merchant, 
and  during  the  meeting  of  the  first  Continental  Congress 
in  Philadelphia,  Morris  seems  to  have  taken  no  part 
in  the  entertainment  of  the  visitors. 

The  i Qth  of  April  turned  the  scale.  It  is  said 
that  Robert  Morris  was  presiding  at  a  banquet  of  the 
St.  George  society,  composed  of  English-born  resi 
dents  of  Philadelphia,  when  the  news  of  the  action  of 
the  king's  troops  reached  him,  and  that  he  at  once  allied 
himself  with  the  resisting  patriots.  The  accession  of 
such  a  wealthy  and  influential  man  to  the  cause  was 
hailed  with  delight,  and  he  was  soon  on  the  Committee 
of  Safety.  He  was  charged  with  procuring  powder 
and  arms,  with  importing  medicines,  and  was  always 
the  banker  for  the  committee,  frequently  advancing 
the  necessary  money.  Pennsylvania  loaded  a  ship  be 
longing  to  Willing  &  Morris  with  home  products  and 
sent  it  to  the  West  Indies  to  procure  arms  and  am 
munition  on  exchange.  Charles  Lee  wrote  to  him 
from  the  camp  at  Cambridge :  "  I  am  very  happy  (as 
we  all  must  be)  that  the  Philadelphia  affairs  are  in 


126          THE  MEAT  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

hands  like  yours.  I  wish  to  God  the  N.  York  were  in 
the  same."  1 

Morris  was  chosen  a  delegate  to  the  Continental 
Congress  in  November,  1775,  but  when  John  Adams 
began  to  agitate  independence,  he  allied  himself  with 
Dickinson,  Henry  Laurens,  William  Livingston,  and 
the  conservatives.  On  the  preliminary  vote  for  inde 
pendence,  Morris  voted  nay,  and  when  the  final  vote 
was  taken,  July  2,  he  was  absent,  either  from  choice 
or  on  business.  The  sentiment  of  Pennsylvania  for 
independence  was  not  strong,  and  it  is  not  surprising 
that  Morris  -was  soon  after  reflected  to  the  Congress. 
He  justified  his  acceptance  in  a  letter  to  Reed :  "  I 
think  that  the  individual  who  declines  the  service  of  his 
country  because  its  councils  are  not  conformable  to  his 
ideas  makes  but  a  bad  subject ;  a  good  one  will  follow 
if  he  cannot  lead."2 

Willing,  the  partner  of  Morris,  had  also  been  a  mem 
ber  of  Congress  from  Philadelphia,  and  soon  gossip 
arose  about  the  employment  of  the  firm's  ships  in 
Continental  service.  It  was  said  that  on  one  powder 
contract  the  firm  would  net  ,£12,000.  Eliphalet  Dyer, 
of  Connecticut,  declared  that  there  were  not  ten  men 
in  his  state  worth  as  much  as  would  be  made  clear  by 
this  firm.  Nevertheless,  John  Adams  said  of  Morris  : 
"  He  has  a  masterly  understanding,  an  open  temper 
and  an  honest  heart.  .  .  .  He  has  vast  designs  in  the 
mercantile  way,  and  no  doubt  pursues  mercantile  ends, 
which  are  always  gain  ;  but  he  is  an  excellent  member  of 

1  "  Lee  Papers,"  New  York  Historical  Society  Collection,  Vol.  IV.,  1871. 

2  From  a  manuscript  letter  in  the  collection  of  the  Pennsylvania  Histori 
cal  Society. 


ROBERT  MORRIS  127 

our  body."  A  greater  criticism  awaited  Morris  because 
of  his  support  of  the  first  American  agent  to  France. 

When  it  was  rumored  throughout  the  country  that 
Congress  would  apply  to  France  and  Spain  for  help 
against  England,  some  thought  the  members  "  would  be 
torn  to  pieces  like  De  Witt."  Those  countries  were 
hereditary  enemies  of  the  English  colonies.  But  the 
impossibility  of  sustaining  the  war  against  England  and 
her  mercenaries  soon  became  manifest  to  the  most 
optimistic.  France  was  smarting  under  her  recent  losses 
in  America,  and  overtures  first  came  from  her.  M.  de 
Bonvouloir,  an  agent  of  Vergennes,  French  minister  of 
state,  although  posing  as  an  unofficial  visitor,  was  in 
Philadelphia  in  1775,  eagerly  courted  by  the  Secret  Com 
mittee.  They  "  met  at  an  appointed  spot  after  dark, 
each  of  them  going  to  it  by  a  different  road,"  as  he 
reported  to  his  master.  Bonvouloir's  presence  in  Phila 
delphia  excited  some  curiosity,  but  no  one  knew  him  as 
more  than  "  a  lame,  elderly  gentleman  of  a  dignified 
and  military  bearing."  He  was  careful  to  promise 
nothing  to  the  Americans,  but  so  dark  did  the  future 
appear  that  they  decided  to  send  an  agent  to  France. 

Silas  Deane,  of  Connecticut,  whether  because  of  his 
business  ability,  his  showy  style  of  living,  or  his  mercan 
tile  experience,  was  chosen.  John  Adams  says  that  the 
appointment  was  solicited  by  Deane  himself,  who  had 
failed  of  reelection  to  the  third  session  of  Congress,  but 
remained  in  Philadelphia.  According  to  his  own  testi 
mony,  Deane  could  "read  and  understand  the  French 
language  tolerably  well,  though  I  am  unable  to  write 
it."  In  July,  1776,  he  reached  the  magnificent  French 
court,  and  soon  showed  himself  a  rough  but  honest 


128          THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

apprentice  at  the  trade  of  diplomacy.  The  keen  Beau- 
marchais,  a  speculator  and  favorite  of  the  French  king, 
kept  Deane  in  suspense  with  suggestions  of  aid ;  the 
vessels  in  which  products  were  shipped  to  support  him, 
were  seized  by  British  privateers ;  he  was  informed 
repeatedly  by  the  Secret  Committee  of  the  pressing 
need  of  supplies,  and  besieged  by  a  horde  of  soldiers 
of  fortune  and  adventurers  who  wanted  to  enlist  in  the 
cause  of  les  insitrgents.  He  once  made  the  unfortunate 
suggestion  that  Washington  be  supplanted  by  the  Due 
de  Broglie.  He  sent  over  Conway,  who  headed  the 
"  cabal "  against  Washington,  and  an  engineer,  whose 
insolent  demands  caused  a  general  contempt  for  French 
officers  which  time  alone  removed.  But  he  also  com 
missioned  Baron  de  Kalb  and  the  Marquis  de  Lafayette 
with  their  "train"  of  eleven  officers.  He  asked  a 
major-generalship  for  the  marquis  because  of  "  his  high 
birth,  his  alliances,  the  great  dignities  which  his  family 
hold  at  this  court,  his  considerable  estates  in  this  realm, 
his  personal  merit,  his  reputation,  his  disinterestedness, 
and  above  all,  his  zeal  for  the  liberty  of  our  provinces." 
"  Had  I  ten  ships,"  he  writes  to  the  Secret  Committee, 
"  I  could  fill  them  all  with  passengers  for  America."  1 

Deane's  fitness  for  influencing  the  French  court  may 
be  imagined  from  a  reiterated  request  for  certain  Ameri 
can  aids  to  diplomacy.  "  She,"  the  queen,  "  loves  riding 
on  horseback.  Could  you  send  me  a  narrowhegansett 
horse  or  two ;  the  present  might  be  money  exceedingly 
well  laid  out.  Rittenhouse's  orrery,  or  Arnold's  col 
lection  of  insects,  a  phaeton  of  American  make  and  a 

1  The  transactions  of  Deane  may  be  studied  in  Wharton's  "  Diplomatic 
Correspondence  of  the  American  Revolution." 


ROBERT  MORRIS  1 29 

pair  of  bay  horses,  a  few  barrels  of  apples,  of  walnuts, 
of  butternuts,  etc.,  would  be  great  curiosities  here, 
where  everything  American  is  gazed  at,  and  where  the 
American  contest  engages  the  attention  of  all  ages, 
ranks,  and  sexes." 

In  the  Hotel  de  Hollande,  the  unoccupied  residence 
of  the  Dutch  minister  in  Paris,  suddenly  appeared  the 
office  of  a  firm  bearing  the  romantic  name  of  Roderique 
Hortalez  et  Cie.,  the  head  of  which  was  said  to  be  a 
Spanish  banker  engaged  in  the  American  trade.  Deane 
knew  that  "  Hortalez  "  was  Beaumarchais,  the  king's 
confidant,  who  was  given  three  million  francs  as  a  don 
gratuit  for  the  Americans.  In  return  they  were  to  ship 
him  tobacco  and  rice.  This  secrecy  was  necessary  in 
order  to  avoid  complications  with  England.  One  of 
these  million  francs  disappeared  and  became  a  source 
of  contention  in  the  claim  of  the  Beaumarchais  heirs 
against  the  United  States.  Morris  was  drawn  into  the 
controversy  by  his  support  of  Deane  and  by  the  folly  of 
his  half-brother  and  ward,  Thomas,  for  whom  he  had 
obtained  a  foreign  agency  at  Nantes.  The  remaining 
two  million  francs  found  their  way  to  the  American 
army  in  the  shape  of  arms  and  ammunition,  but  "  Hor 
talez  "  never  received  a  cargo  in  return. 

Congress  now  decided  to  make  a  more  determined 
effort  to  get  aid  from  France,  and  sent  over  Franklin 
from  America  and  Arthur  Lee,  Virginia  agent  at  Lon 
don,  to  join  Deane.  Franklin  was  eminently  fitted  for 
the  position.  He  had  been  in  France  several  times, 
could  speak  French,  and  was  suited  by  nature  to  that 
gay  court.  His  seventy  years  had  not  affected  his  good 
spirits,  although  he  suffered  from  disease.  His  recep- 


130          THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION" 

tion  in  Paris  was  most  gratifying.  Having  discarded  a 
wig  for  hygienic  reasons,1  he  replaced  it  by  a  fur  cap 
which  in  time  showed  traces  of  wear.  This  was  sup 
posed  in  Paris  to  be  the  Quaker  headgear  and  was 
imitated  with  great  fidelity  by  the  young  nobles.  They 
also  abandoned  their  swords  for  Franklin  canes,  and 
copied  the  plain  and  not  overneat  attire  of  the  "colo 
nial  Quaker."  Franklin  dolls  appeared,  by  which  the 
philosopher  was  "  i-doll-ized,"  as  he  wrote  to  his  daughter 
Sally.  He  also  said  that  he  durst  not  do  anything  that 
would  oblige  him  to  run  away,  since  his  phiz  would 
discover  him  wherever  he  should  venture  to  show  it.2 
Deane  showed  no  jealousy,  but  wrote  home  :  "  Never 
did  I  enjoy  greater  satisfaction  than  in  being  the  spec 
tator  of  the  public  honors  often  paid  him.  .  .  .  When 
he  attended  the  operas  and  plays,  similar  honors  were 
paid  him,  and  I  confess  I  felt  a  joy  and  pride  which 
was  pure  and  honest,  though  not  disinterested,  for 
I  considered  it  an  honor  to  be  an  American  and  his 
acquaintance." 

Franklin's  residence  at  Passy,  a  suburb  of  Paris, 
loaned  to  him  by  a  friend,  was  the  centre  of  a  delightful 
coterie.  Near  at  hand  was  the  home  of  Madame  Hel- 
vetius,  to  whom  Franklin  wrote  his  burlesque  proposal 
of  marriage,  but  whose  manners  shocked  Mrs.  John 


1  In  his  "  Works,"  Vol.  III.,  p.  75,  John  Adams  tells  a  story  of  Franklin 
and    himself    occupying  the  same  room  in  an  inn   in   midwinter.      The 
philosopher  insisted  upon  opening  the  window,  and  began  a  calculation 
of  the  length  of  time  it  would  require  to  exhaust  the  air  in  the  room,  during 
which  Adams  fell  asleep. 

2  A  collection  of  over  one  hundred  and  fifty  portraits  and  medallions 
of  Franklin  has  been  placed  in  the  Metropolitan  Art  Museum,  New  York 
City,  many  of  them  dating  from  his  residence  in  France  at  this  time. 


5SHORf   APPEAL 


PEOPL  £  of  G  U  E  A  T-B  R I T  A1N> 


. 


DISAl 


ROBERT  MORRIS  131 

Adams.1     Indeed,   the   whole    life   of    Franklin   was  a 
source  of  amazement  to  John  Adams  when  he  was  sent 

over  as  an  additional _____ . ,,•• , 

agent.  He  found  ' 
Franklin  with  seven 
servants  and  a  chore- 
woman  and  spend 
ing  $13,000  a  year 
while  a  solicitor  of 
aid  for  the  needy 
Americans. 

The  king  received 
Franklin  in  his  bed 
chamber,  and  the 
queen  granted  him 
a  presentation  at  her 
gaming  table.  But 
the  gates  of  the  pal 
ace  remained  closed 
to  him  as  a  rep 
resentative  of  the 
United  States.  Only 
the  peace  proposals 
of  Lord  North  in 
the  Parliament  and 
the  capture  of  Burgoyne  and  his  men  in  America  per 
suaded  the  king  that  the  Americans  had  a  good  showing 
of  success.  Beaumarchais  drove  so  furiously  to  advise 
the  king  to  make  a  treaty  that  he  was  thrown  from  his 
carriage  and  his  arm  dislocated.  Dickinson's  predic- 

1  "  Letters  of  Mrs.  John  Adams,"  p.  252.     Franklin's  proposal  may  be 
found  in  Sparks's  "  Franklin,"  Vol.  II.,  p.  204. 


132          THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

tion  that  foreign  aid  would  be  gained  by  victories  in  the 
field  instead  of  a  Declaration  of 'Independence  was 
verified.  Nothing  came  of  North's  proposition  in  Eng 
land  save  additional  pamphlets  on  the  necessity  of  con 
tinuing  the  war  against  the  rebellious  colonies. 

The  need  of  money  lay  at  the  bottom  of  nearly  all 
the  difficulties  of  carrying  on  the  war  and  consumed 
many  of  the  precious  hours  of  Congress.  That  body 
must  not  be  criticised  too  severely  for  its  delinquencies, 
nor  must  men  be  censured  too  much  for  refusing  to 
serve  as  delegates  and  preferring  the  more  honorable 
and  less  dangerous  duty  of  serving  the  state  govern 
ments.  Only  by  reading  the  minutes1  can  one  appre 
ciate  the  thousand  trifling  details  demanding  the  attention 
of  Congress.  State  prejudices  and  influences  delayed 
the  appointment  of  army  officers.  Enlistments  were 
made  for  such  brief  times  that  the  army  was  usually 
not  dependable.  Hard  money  was  paid  as  bounty  to 
encourage  enlistment,  but  the  recruits  with  coin  in  their 
pockets  created  mutinies  in  the  camps  where  the  other 
soldiers  had  been  paid  in  "rag  money."  Delegations 
of  begging  Indians  with  their  tedious  powwows  must 
be  tolerated  lest  they  join  the  enemy.  All  kinds  of 
obstructions  and  vaisseaux  de  frise  for  the  Delaware  were 
examined  and  considered  when  it  was  rumored  that 
Howe  would  drive  the  "  rebels  "  from  their  capital. 

In  December,  1776,  came  the  first  rumor  of  Howe's 
approach,  and  a  panic  seized  upon  Congress,  during 
which  it  fled  precipitately  from  Philadelphia  to  Balti 
more.  The  patriots  in  the  city  shared  the  alarm  of 

1  The  "Journals  of  Congress,"  as  the  Continental  Congress  records 
were  called,  are  to  be  found  in  many  libraries. 


ROBERT  MORRIS  133 

Congress.  "  Drums  beat ;  a  martial  appearance ;  the 
shops  shut.  .  .  .  Our  people  then  began  to  pack  up 
some  things,  wearing  and  bedding,  to  send  to  the 
place.  .  .  .  Numbers  of  families  loading  wagons  with 
their  furniture,  &c.  taking  them  out  of  town.  .  .  . 
Went  with  a  number  of  deeds  to  son  Christopher's ; 
put  them  into  his  iron  chest,"  wrote  Christopher  Mar 
shall  in  his  diary, 

This  headlong  flight  of  Congress,  especially  as  Howe 
failed  to  come,  gave  opportunity  for  the  critics.  One  of 
them  wrote  to  Morris :  "  For  God's  sake  why  did  you 
remove  from  Philadelphia?  You  have  given  an  invita 
tion  to  the  enemy ;  you  have  discovered  a  timidity  that 
encourages  an  enemy  and  discourages  our  friends." 
Morris  had  not  fled  with  the  other  members.  Sending 
his  family  to  a  step-sister  of  Mrs.  Morris  near  Baltimore, 
he  quietly  assumed  the  management  of  public  affairs  in 
Philadelphia.  As  soon  as  Congress  was  safely  assem 
bled  at  Baltimore,  it  authorized  him  and  two  others  to 
act  in  Philadelphia  in  its  absence.  Morris  sent  almost 
daily  reports,  which  were  highly  approved.  President 
Hancock  wrote  to  him :  "Without  the  least  appearance 
of  Flattery  I  can  assure  you  your  whole  conduct  since 
our  Flight  is  highly  approved,  &  happy  I  am  that  you 
Remain'd ;  many  agreeable  consequences  have  resulted 
from  it,  and  your  continu'd  exertions  will  be  productive 
of  great  good,  I  must  therefore  beg  you  will  continue 
as  long  as  you  can  tho'  I  sincerely  wish  you  a  happy 
sight  of  good  Mrs.  Morris,  but  I  fear  your  departure 
from  Philada  might  occasion  relaxation  that  would 
be  prejudical.  I  know  however  you  will  put  things  in 
a  proper  way,  indeed  all  depends  on  you,  and  you  have 


134  HE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

my  hearty  thanks  for  your  unremitting  Labours,  the 
Publick  are  much  indebted  to  you,  and  I  hope  to  see 
the  day  when  those  publick  acknowledgments  shall  be 
made  you."  1 

To  Franklin  and  the  other  commissioners  in  France, 
Morris  describes  the  situation  in  Philadelphia :  "  This 
city  was  for  ten  days  the  greatest  scene  of  distress  that 
you  can  conceive ;  everybody  but  Quakers  were  remov 
ing  their  families  and  effects,  and  now  it  looks  dismal 
and  melancholy.  The  Quakers  and  their  families  pretty 
generally  remain ;  the  other  inhabitants  are  principally 
sick  soldiers.  .  .  .  You  may  be  sure  I  have  my  full 
share  of  trouble  on  this  occasion,  but  having  got  my 
family  and  books  removed  to  a  place  of  safety  my 
mind  is  more  at  ease,  and  my  time  is  given  up  to  the 
public,  although  I  have  many  thousand  pounds'  worth 
of  effects  here  without  any  prospect  of  saving  them."2 

His  days  were  employed  in  removing  the  salt  out  of 
the  city  to  prevent  it  falling  into  the  hands  of  the 
enemy,  sending  the  public  ships  away  from  the  mouth 
of  Delaware  bay,  and  receiving  and  forwarding  public 
supplies.  He  borrowed  $10,000  as  he  said  for  the 
marine  committee,  although  it  was  hinted  the  money 
had  been  used  to  get  the  Congress  out  of  town.  He 
was  ordered  to  send  hard  money  to  General  Lee,  now 
a  prisoner.  Lafayette  begged  him  to  send  him  even 
a  part  of  the  sum  he  originally  asked. 

In  the  early  morning  of  the  day  which  ushered  in  the 
year  1777,  Morris  received  a  letter  from  General  Wash- 

1  "  Thomson  Papers,"  New  York  Historical  Society  Collections,  1878, 
Vol.  XL,  p.  413. 

2  Wharton's  "Diplomatic  Correspondence,"  Vol.  II.,  p.  234. 


ROBERT  MORRIS  135 

ington,  in  the  field.  The  battle  of  Trenton  had  just 
been  won,  but  the  fruits  might  be  lost  if  the  Connecti 
cut  troops,  whose  time  expired  at  the  end  of  the  year, 
went  home.  Washington  was  promising  them  a  bounty 
of  ten  dollars  each  if  they  would  reenlist  and  was 
depending  on  Morris  for  the  money.  The  latter  re 
plied  :  "  I  had  long  since  parted  with  very  considerable 
sums  of  hard  money  to  Congress ;  and  therefore  must 
collect  from  others,  and,  as  matters  now  stand,  it  is 
no  easy  thing.  I  mean  to  borrow  silver  and  promise 
payment  in  gold,  and  will  then  collect  the  gold  in  the 
best  manner  I  can."1  Having  sent  the  General  £i$o 
two  days  before  for  the  secret  service,  this  $50,000 
was  with  difficulty  procured.  It  probably  contributed 
to  the  battle  of  Princeton.2 

In  March,  Congress  ventured  to  return  to  Philadel 
phia  from  Baltimore,  but  precaution  was  taken  to  have 
the  records  in  boxes  ready  for  flight  if  Howe  should 
come.  One  night  in  September,  Colonel  Alexander 
Hamilton,  a  student  in  King's  College  who  had  become 
an  aide  on  Washington's  staff,  gave  the  alarm  at  the 
doors  of  the  lodgings  occupied  by  the  members,  inform 
ing  them  that  they  "  had  not  a  moment  to  lose."  They 
arose,  dressed,  and  scattered  in  different  directions. 
John  Adams  drove  over  into  New  Jersey,  and  then 
circled  about  the  city  and  joined  the  other  members  a 
week  later  at  Lancaster,  Pennsylvania.  The  Tories 
in  the  city  said  the  scene  beggared  description  when 


1  Sparks's  "Letters  to  Washington,"  Vol.  I.,  p.  315. 

2  It  is  said  that  Morris  chanced  to  meet  John  Morton,  a  wealthy  Quaker, 
and  asked  to  borrow  a  large  sum  "  for  a  private  purpose."     By  this  finesse 
he  secured  it,  giving  his  note  and  his  word  of  honor. 


136          THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

"  the  Congress,  all  the  publick  boards,  Officers  &  all  the 
Whigs  in  general  left  the  City  at  midnight,  in  the  utmost 
consternation." 1  Church  bells  were  taken  down,  the 
bridge  over  the  Schuylkill  torn  up,  and  the  signs  bearing 
the  head  of  Washington  carefully  carried  away  from  the 
taverns.  Ten  days  later,  Howe  entered  the  rebel  capital. 

Morris  this  time  took  his  family  to  the  "  mansion " 
built  by  the  eccentric  Baron  Stiegel  at  Manheim,  near 
Lancaster.  His  other  country  residence,  The  Hills, 
the  scene  of  his  lavish  entertainments  of  Congress,  was 
too  near  Philadelphia  to  be  safe.2 

Congress  returned  to  Philadelphia  in  the  summer  of 
1778,  after  the  evacuation  of  the  city  by  the  British. 
Morris  brought  back  his  family  and  continued  his  exer 
tions  in  raising  money  and  combining  public  with  pri 
vate  business.  Lead  was  in  great  demand  for  bullets. 
The  committee  of  Philadelphia  had  searched  the  houses 
for  lead,  had  taken  down  all  the  water  pipes,  and  were 
disgusted  at  rinding  some  of  the  window  weights  made 
of  iron.3  It  is  said  that  Robert  Morris  gave  to  the  com 
mittee  the  lead  ballast  from  a  vessel  of  which  he  was 
part  owner,  giving  his  note  for  security  to  the  other 
owners.  In  1779,  he  advanced  five  hundred  guineas 
hard  money  to  the  United  States.  In  1781,  he  sent  to 
Washington  the  sum  which  made  possible  the  siege  of 
Yorktown  and  the  end  of  the  war. 

1  Pennsylvania  Magazine  of  History  and  Biography,  Vol.  IX.,  p.  290. 

2  From  Baltimore,  Harrison,  of  Virginia,  had  written   to   Morris :    "  I 
most  sincerely  thank  you  for  your  kind  wishes  to  see  me  again  at  The 
Hills.      I  generally  appropriate  some  moments  on  Sunday  to  that  Place, 
let  me  be  where  I  will;    But  in  this  infernal  sink,  I  scarcely  think  of 
anything  else."     "  Thomson  Papers,"  Vol.  XL,  p.  409. 

8  See  the  "Diary  of  Susan  Drinker,"  p.  41. 


ROBERT  MORRIS  137 

It  must  be  noted  that  the  national  government  thus 
far  was  purely  revolutionary.  Congress  had  assumed 
control,  and  the  states  had  to  acquiesce.  Hence  this 
period  from  1776  to  1781  is  often  called  the  period  of 
"  Revolutionary  "  government.  The  interregnum,  as 
has  been  shown,  was  due  to  necessity  and  not  to  inten 
tion.  The  "certain  motions  for  independency"  offered 
by  Richard  Henry  Lee  had  embraced  two  points  aside 
from  independence,  viz.  "most  effectual  measures  for 
forming  foreign  alliances"  and  "a  plan  for  a  confedera 
tion  "  among  the  respective  colonies.  The  action  was 
illustrative  of  the  Saxon  instinct  for  perpetuating  gov 
ernment.  There  was  to  be  no  interregnum,  no  chance 
for  anarchy  to  rear  its  ugly  head.  "  The  government 
is  dead;  long  live  the  government." 

Ten  days  after  independence  was  voted,  the  com 
mittee  brought  in  a  draft  of  twenty  "  Articles  "  for  the 
governing  of  the  proposed  "  Confederation."  They  are 
supposed  to  be  the  work  of  John  Dickinson,  but  there 
were  numerous  "  plans "  of  union  to  serve  as  models. 
Franklin,  recalling  his  plan  proposed  at  Albany  twenty- 
one  years  before,  had  proposed  a  form  of  union  in 
Congress  a  year  prior  to  the  Declaration,  and  many 
thought  it  should  have  been  adopted  before  indepen 
dence  was  declared. 

But  if  the  committee  could  agree  upon  a  form  of  gov 
ernment  and  report  it  in  such  brief  time,  it  was  unlikely 
that  the  differences  of  interests  and  opinions  in  Con 
gress  could  be  so  easily  reconciled.  From  time  to  time 
for  sixteen  months  in  the  midst  of  the  most  pressing 
questions,  these  Articles  were  taken  up  and  debated 
before  they  were  adopted  and  sent  to  the  several  states 


138          THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

for  unanimous  ratification.  The  points  in  dispute  were 
far  from  trivial.  Washington  was  constantly  calling 
for  money.  Should  the  quota  to  be  raised  by  each 
state  be  determined  by  its  population  ?  Should  the 
slaves  be  counted  ?  Congress,  according  to  the  pro 
posed  Articles,  was  to  be  the  sole  agency  of  the  Union. 
It  was  to  have  executive,  legislative,  and  embryonic 
judicial  powers.  Representation  therein  was  a  momen 
tous  issue.  Should  small  Delaware  have  equal  repre 
sentation  with  populous  Virginia  ?  The  disputes  about 
the  boundary  lines  of  the  states  had  scarcely  abated 
during  the  war.  They  would  break  out  afresh  when  it 
ceased.  How  could  a  court  be  constituted  which  would 
have  jurisdiction  over  these  independent  states  in  set 
tling  such  controversies  ? 

When  the  Articles,  reduced  to  thirteen,  were  finally 
submitted  to  the  states,  a  new  territorial  question  arose 
which  delayed  their  ratification  by  all  the  states  until 
March,  1781,  thus  completing  almost  five  years  of  the 
"  Revolutionary  government."  It  was  understood  that 
in  the  event  of  a  successful  termination  of  the  war,  the 
territory  of  the  United  States  was  to  extend  to  the  west 
ern  boundary  of  the  former  English  territories  —  the 
Mississippi  river.  Should  the  land  thus  acquired,  ly 
ing  between  the  Alleghanies  and  the  river,  belong  to 
those  states  which  held  the  shadowy  charter  claims,  or 
should  it  be  held  for  the  common  benefit  of  all  the 
states  ?  It  was  being  won  by  the  common  blood  and 
treasure;  it  should  be  held  for  the  common  good.  This 
was  the  contention  of  the  small  states,  cut  out  by  defi 
nite  boundaries  from  these  western  claims.  Maryland 
held  out  until  the  last  of  the  claim-holding  states  had 


ROBERT  MORRIS  139 

yielded  her  western  land  to  the  central  government,  thus 
making  the  beginnings  of  the  rich  inheritance  known 
as  the  "public  domain."  At  high  noon  on  March  I, 
1781,  the  discharge  of  cannon  in  the  State  House  yard 
at  Philadelphia  announced  that  the  "Articles  of  Con 
federation  and  Perpetual  Union  "  between  the  thirteen 
states  had  gone  into  effect,  and  that  a  legal  government 
existed  once  more.  Although  some  victories  had  thus 
far  attended  the  American  arms  in  the  field,  the  lack  of 
civic  harmony  and  righteousness  was  too  evident  in 
both  state  and  nation  to  cause  much  rejoicing.  The 
public  conscience  seemed  to  have  grown  hardened  during 
the  many  years  of  war. 

Robert  Morris  will  be  found  on  record  in  every  public 
assembly  to  which  he  belonged  as  opposed  to  the  meas 
ures,  only  too  frequently  passed,  for  repudiating  debt 
or  still  further  endangering  public  credit.  He  tried  in 
vain  to  prevent  Pennsylvania  joining  in  the  craze  of  issu 
ing  paper  money,  which  seemed  to  attack  the  states, 
thereby  injuring  not  only  themselves  but  the  Congress 
as  well.  Under  his  suggestion  the  depreciation  of 
Pennsylvania  currency  was  at  one  time  checked.  Con 
gress1  had  long  known  of  his  services  and  ability,  and  in 
1781  replaced  the  unfortunate  Board  of  the  Treasury 
by  Robert  Morris,  under  the  title  of  Financier  of  the 
United  States.  He  accepted  the  office  with  reluctance, 
his  friends,  although  testifying  to  his  ability  in  finance, 
assuring  him  that  he  could  not  succeed.  The  govern 
ment  was  now  two  and  a  half  million  dollars  in  debt, 
besides  its  paper  money  which  had  ceased  to  circulate. 
His  first  step  in  reform  was  to  dismiss  a  number  of  useless 

1  After  1781  known  as  the  "Confederation"  Congress. 


140         THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

clerks,  thus  gaining  additional  unpopularity.  For  three 
years  he  struggled  with  the  many  financial  problems, 
organizing  the  Bank  of  North  America,  to  which  he 
subscribed  $10,000  of  his  own  money,1  collecting  funds 
on  his  private  indorsement  to  conduct  the  closing  cam 
paigns  of  the  war,  and  at  last  resigned  in  utter  despair. 
His  management  was  at  times  daring,  as  when  he 
drew  upon  the  American  representatives  in  Europe  for 
money.  Franklin  once  wrote  in  reply  from  France 
asking  if  he  thought  him  Gideon,  that  he  must  draw 
water  for  all  Israel.  Jay,  in  replying,  assured  him  that 
he  had  exhausted  every  bank  in  Spain  save  that  of 
hope.  To  add  to  the  difficulties,  this  borrowed  money 
was  counterfeited  as  the  paper  money  had  been,  and  it 
was  also  trimmed  and  punched  until  most  of  it  was 
light  weight.  The  enemy  was  accused  of  putting  out 
these  counterfeits  to  destroy  the  hopes  of  the  rebels,2  but 
the  Americans  themselves  countenanced  the  clipping, 
until  a  quartermaster  in  the  army,  although  confessing 
it  "  a  shameful  business  and  an  unreasonable  hardship 
on  a  public  officer,"  was  compelled  to  solicit  the  loan  of 
"  a  pair  of  good  shears,  a  couple  of  punches,  and  a 
leaden  anvil "  to  reduce  the  foreign  money  borrowed 
for  the  United  States  to  the  current  standard.3 

1  The  workings  of  this  prototype  of  the  later  national  banks  may  be 
studied  in  Sumner's  "  Finances    and  Financier  of  the  Revolution,"  and  in 
Bolles's  "  Financial  History  of  the  United  States." 

2  See  Bolles's  "Financial  History   of  the   United    States,"   Ch.  XL; 
Moore's  "  Diary  of  the  American  Revolution,"  Vol.  I.,  p.  440;    Almon's 
"Remembrancer  for  1780."      Counterfeiters  were  punished  by  sitting  in 
the  pillory  one  hour,  by  twenty  stripes,  and  payment  of  the  costs  of  prose 
cution.     Passing  counterfeit  money  was  punishable  by  standing  one  hour 
in  the  pillory,  by  twenty  stripes,  and  having  one  ear  cut  off. 

8  Quoted  in  Pickering's  "  Pickering,"  Vol.  I.,  p.  388. 


ROBERT  MORRIS  141 

It  is  impossible  to  say  how  much  of  the  money  raised 
by  Morris  was  borrowed  or  advanced  by  him  personally 
and  how  much  through  his  agency  as  a  member  of  the 
various  committees  or  as  Financier.  In  the  troublous 
times  marked  by  the  flights  of  Congress,  the  loss  of 
accounts,  and  the  confusion  attending  the  foreign  loans, 
his  accounts  were  hopelessly  confused,  and  neither  he  nor 
any  accountant  since  has  been  able  to  put  them  aright. 
At  the  close  of  the  war,  his  name  was  on  paper  amount 
ing  to  $1,400,000,  which  he  had  secured  for  the  service 
of  the  United  States.  This  he  was  able  to  pay  by  the 
unusual  profits  attending  the  importations  of  his  firm. 
Although  140  of  their  vessels  were  captured  by  the 
enemy,  prices  of  imported  goods  had  risen  to  such 
proportions  that  one  vessel  reaching  America  safely 
from  Holland,  France,  or  Spain,  would  recompense  for 
the  loss  of  several.  Pins  and  writing  paper  rose  to 
fabulous  prices.  Mrs.  John  Adams  was  willing  to  pay 
$15  a  thousand  for  pins,  and  John  Marshall  said  that 
his  sisters  used  thorns  as  substitutes.  Writing-paper  was 
worth  $10  a  quire.  The  trimmed  margins  of  newspapers 
and  pamphlets  attest  the  scarcity  of  this  commodity. 
Thomas  Paine,  secretary  of  a  Congressional  committee, 
was  unable  to  obtain  sufficient  paper  to  write  fully  to 
Franklin,  the  agent  in  France.  Other  commodities  were 
equally  unobtainable.  A  substitute  for  imported  mo 
lasses  was  found  by  grinding  cornstalks  and  boiling 
the  liquor.  Salt  could  scarcely  be  bought  at  any  price, 
and  "  all  the  old  women  and  young  children  [in  Phila 
delphia]  are  gone  down  to  the  Jersey  shore  to  make 
salt.  Salt  water  is  boiling  all  around  the  coast."  Loaf 
sugar  rose  to  fifteen  shillings  the  pound.  A  New 


142          THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

York  paper  announced  "  No  Dry  Goods  Ship  this 
spring."  l 

Such  prices  naturally  bred  a  spirit  of  speculation. 
Morris  not  only  bought  up  foreign  goods,  but  sent  an 
agent  through  the  southern  states  to  buy  for  cash  all 
tobacco  and  such  other  products  as  might  be  in  general 
demand.  These  movements  made  him  as  unpopular  as 
any  rich  man  may  expect  to  be  in  such  disorderly  times. 
A  committee,  sent  by  a  public  meeting  in  the  State 
House  yard,  accused  him  of  buying  the  cargo  of  a 
French  vessel  and  selling  it  at  exorbitant  prices.  At 
another  time,  acting  as  agent  for  the  commissary  of  the 
French  troops,  he  paid  more  than  the  allowed  price  for 
flour.  He  was  "  waited  upon  by  four  or  five  women  with 
sacks  under  their  arms,"  who  demanded  a  portion  of 
the  flour,  and  by  a  public  committee  who  insisted  that 
he  should  not  deliver  it  to  the  French  troops. 

A  study  of  events  of  those  days  convinces  one  that 
all  the  dangers  of  war  are  not  to  be  encountered  on  the 
battlefield.  The  temptation  to  make  personal  gain  out 
of  necessity  is  hard  to  resist,  although  it  tends  to  break 
down  the  civic  honor.  Although  the  actions  of  Morris  did 
not  deserve  the  severe  criticism  bestowed  on  him,  there 
is  no  doubt  that  public  morality  waned.  The  president 
of  Congress  wrote  to  the  governor  of  Georgia:  "Were 
I  to  unfold  to  you,  Sir,  scenes  of  venality,  peculation, 
and  fraud  which  I  have  discovered,  the  disclosure  would 
astonish  you."  President  Reed,  of  the  state  of  Pennsyl 
vania,  published  a  denial  of  the  rumor  that  he  was  trad- 

1  According  to  the  report  in  a  Philadelphia  newspaper,  of  an  auction 
sale  in  1781,  a  pair  of  razors  brought  $29;  a  pound  of  thread,  $87.75;  a 
pair  of  shoes,  $120;  a  dozen  buttons,  $10;  and  an  iron-bound  barrel,  $120. 


ROBERT  MORRIS  143 

ing  with  New  York  City,  held  by  the  British.  Morris, 
falling  under  suspicion  of  sending  goods  belonging  to  his 
firm  in  Continental  vessels,  was  investigated  by  a  com 
mittee  of  Congress,  and  cleared  of  the  charge.  Hewes, 
of  North  Carolina,  failed  of  reelection  to  Congress, 
because  he  was  connected  with  Morris  in  shipping  goods 
for  the  Secret  Committee.  The  French  minister  wrote 
that  the  members  of  Congress  generally  used  their 
positions  for  speculation. 

Public  property  had  not  the  consideration  which  was 
given  to  private  property.  When  the  British  evacuated 
Philadelphia,  they  left  a  bridge  which  the  city  counsel 
appraised  at  ^£700.  Some  comment  was  caused  by  its 
private  sale  to  an  assemblyman  of  the  state  for  ,£150. 
Undoubtedly  the  civic  conscience  was  seduced  by  the 
disposal  of  the  confiscated  estates  of  those  known  as 
Loyalists  or  Tories,  who  had  remained  on  the  side  of 
the  king.  The  patriots  had  to  encounter  not  only  a 
foreign  foe,  but,  as  John  Adams  estimated  them,  fully 
one-fourth  their  own  countrymen.  These  Loyalists  were 
generally  men  of  property  and  influence  who  refused  to 
endanger  their  reputations,  fortunes,  and  lives  by  taking 
sides  with  "rebels."  The  inherited  hatred  of  social 
classes  was  partly  responsible  for  the  severe  treatment 
they  received  at  the  hands  of  the  lower  class  of  people. 
Leaders  like  Washington,  Morris,  and  Franklin,  deplored 
this  tarring  and  feathering,  pillorying,  slicing  off  ears, 
and  destruction  of  property,  but,  as  in  many  modern 
"  strikes,"  they  were  unable  to  hold  the  mob  in  hand. 

There  were  always  to  be  found  such  men  as  the  brag 
gart  General  Charles  Lee,  a  renegade  British  officer, 
who  tried  to  incite  the  people  by  public  addresses  to 


144 


THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 


destroy  the  barracks  of  the  soldiers  and  to  mob  Riving- 
ton,   a    New  York  printer.     He  would  put  down  the 


TREATMENT  OF  THE  TORIES  l 


"small,  perverse,  drivelling  knot  of  Quakers"  in  Phila 
delphia,  "  kick  the  Assembly  from  the  seat  of  represen- 

1  From  the  first  edition  of  Trumbull's  "  McFingal." 


ROBERT  MORRIS  145 

tation  which  they  so  horribly  disgrace,  and  set  them  to 
making  German  Town  stockings  for  the  army,"  and  seize 
every  "Governour,  government  man,  placeman,  tory 
and  enemy  to  liberty  on  the  continent,  confiscate  their 
estates,  confine  them  in  some  of  the  inferior  towns,  and 
allow  them  only  a  reasonable  pension  out  of  their 
fortunes."  l 

Under  such  treatment,  the  Loyalists  fled  by  thousands 
to  England,  where  they  were  pensioned,  or  to  Canada, 
where  they  were  given  crown  land.  Others  had  taken 
refuge  in  New  York,  and  when  it  was  found  that  it  was 
to  be  evacuated  at  the  close  of  the  war,  advertisements 
appeared  in  the  papers  setting  forth  the  advantages  of 
the  Loyalist  settlements  in  Nova  Scotia  and  adjacent 
parts  of  Canada.  Frequently  upon  the  doors  of  the 
fine  old  colonial  mansions  would  be  found  the  derisive 
inscription  "  Gone  to  Halifax,"  and  the  deserted  prop 
erty  fell  a  prey  to  neglect  or  was  seized  by  some  chance 
occupant.  Provision  was  made  by  the  states  to  sell 
this  confiscated  property,  but  little  was  realized  from  it.2 

The  tribulations  of  Congress  continued.  A  third 
time  they  had  to  fly  from  Philadelphia ;  not  because  of 
a  foreign  foe,  but  through  some  up-country  Pennsylvania 
farmer  boys,  who  had  served  the  term  of  their  enlist 
ment  in  the  army  and  demanded  their  pay.  There  was 

1  The  "  Lee  Papers,"  New  York  Historical  Society  Collections,  Vol.  IV., 
1871. 

2  Agents  were  appointed  to  sell  the  abandoned  estates,  and  all  persons 
having  claims  were  notified  to  bring  them  in.     Since  the  other  party  was 
absent,  there  was  abuse  of  this  privilege.     The  states  rarely  realized  the 
full  value  of  the  abandoned  property.      Galloway  said  that  he  had  left 
an  estate  in  Pennsylvania  worth  ^40,000.     The  houses  in  which  Long 
fellow  and  Lowell  dwelt  at  Cambridge  are  familiar  specimens  of  deserted 
Tory  houses. 

L 


146          THE  MEN  WHO  MADE   THE  NATION 

no  money  available,  and  the  terrified  members  fled  to 
Princeton,  New  Jersey.1  The  Congress  was  even  then 
trying  to  persuade  the  army  to  accept  certificates  for 
their  pay,  now  long  in  arrears.  Washington  was  attempt 
ing  to  stop  a  proposed  agreement  among  his  officers 

not  to  disband  the 
until 


htr 
and 
' 


ltfa     Auguft  i.  i7»7. __  Pay  was   assured. 

city 
Jin- 


j£|r*  C  A  3  II  given  for  John     Stark    had 

Military  Certificates.  s°ne     home     in 

IJ.T  |        Enquire  of  the  Printer  hereof.  doubt  how  he  was 

to  "  support  a  nu 
merous  offspring  which  Heaven  had  been  pleased  to 
bestow."  Congress  next  went  to  Annapolis,  sitting 
"  near  a  yawning  graveyard  "  for  six  months  ;  then  they 
adjourned  to  Trenton,  and  eventually  to  New  York. 
Such  "  vagabondizing  from  one  petty  village  to  another," 
as  a  member  put  it,  was  neither  pleasant  nor  profitable. 
Salaries  were  supposed  to  be  paid  by  the  respective 
states,  but  members  suffered  from  the  dereliction  of  their 
Assemblies  as  well  as  by  the  depreciation  of  money. 
Ames  managed  to  get  an  order  on  the  Massachusetts 
treasury  for  ^100,  but  discounted  it  for  £go  cash.  An 
other  member  complained  that  he  received  less  than  $100 
for  $201  in  Philadelphia.  A  Maryland  delegate  suggested 
that  his  state  send,  some  flour  up  to  Philadelphia  which 
he  could  dispose  of.  Madison  hinted  to  Virginia  that 
he  might  be  a  prisoner  for  debt  if  some  money  were 

1  The  failure  of  the  city  and  the  state  to  protect  Congress  cost  Phila 
delphia  the  permanent  seat  of  government.  Charles  Thomson  wrote,  "  O 
that  it  could  be  obliterated  from  the  annals  of  America  and  utterly  effaced 
from  my  memory."  —  Peters'  papers  (MS.)  in  Pennsylvania  Historical  Soci 
ety  Library. 


ROBERT  MORRIS  147 

not  forthcoming.  He  had  been  "  for  some  time  a  pen 
sioner  on  the  favor  of  Haym  Salomon,  a  Jew  Broker."  1 

Under  such  disadvantages,  it  is  small  wonder  that 
business  in  Congress  should  have  been  hindered  so 
frequently,  after  the  danger  of  the  war  had  passed,  by 
the  absence  of  members.  When  the  long-awaited  treaty 
of  peace  with  England,  which  was  signed  at  Paris  by 
Adams,  Franklin,  and  Jay,  reached  Congress  about  the 
middle  of  December,  it  found  but  seven  states  repre 
sented,  two  less  than  the  number  required  by  the 
Articles  for  such  a  purpose.  According  to  its  terms,  it 
must  be  ratified  and  back  in  Paris  within  six  months, 
and  almost  four  had  already  elapsed.  Urgent  sum 
monses  were  sent  in  all  directions,  and  in  one  month 
two  more  states  were  represented,  although  the  full 
quorum  lasted  but  three  days.  Washington,  anxious  to 
return  to  his  neglected  plantation,  waited  four  days  at 
Annapolis  and  at  last  resigned  his  commission  to  twenty 
delegates  representing  six  states. 

Congress  from  time  to  time  begged  the  states  to  give 
to  it  some  dependable  source  of  revenue.  Between  1781 
and  1786  the  states  had  been  asked  for  more  than  ten 
million  dollars  for  the  expenses  of  government,  but  had 
paid  less  than  two  and  one-half  millions.  Toward  the 
latter  part  of  that  period  money  was  coming  into  Con 
gress  from  the  states  at  the  rate  of  four  hundred  thou 
sand  dollars  per  annum,  while  the  interest  on  the 
national  debt  alone  was  half  a  million  annually. 

Congress  asked  to  be  allowed  to  levy  a  duty  on  all 
goods  coming  into  the  country.  The  request  was  at 

1  There  is  a  sketch  of  the  services  of  Haym  Salomon  in  Wolf's  "  Ameri 
can  Jew,"  p.  14. 


148     HE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

one  time  limited  to  a  definite  period ;  at  another  time 
to  a  certain  per  cent.  Sometimes  all  the  states  save 
one  would  agree  on  some  concession,  but  before  that 
one  state  could  be  brought  into  line  others  would  with 
draw  the  permission.  No  proposition  to  mend  the 
Articles  ever  passed  all  the  states,  and  Congress  was 
compelled  to  continue  making  requisitions  on  them  for 
money. 

With  no  adequate  treasury  and  no  coercive  power,  the 
Union  was  threatened  with  encroachment  from  abroad 
and  disintegration  from  within.  Spain  claimed  the  right 
to  collect  duty  on  every  load  of  grain  which  the  western 
pioneers  carried  down  the  Mississippi  to  a  market  at 
Spanish  New  Orleans.  There  was  a  doubt  whether  the 
trans-Alleghanian  settlements  might  not  find  it  desirable 
to  secede  from  the  feeble  Union  and  to  ally  themselves 
with  Spain.  Although  the  Revolutionary  war  had  been 
ended  and  a  treaty  signed,  British  troops  for  several 
years  retained  possession  of  forts  on  the  American  side 
of  the  boundary  line,  withholding  the  allegiance  of  the 
Indians  and  interfering  with  American  trade.  There 
was  always  the  fear  that  the  Revolutionary  government 
set  up  in  the  Green  Mountains,  generally  called  Vermont, 
might  be  led  away  by  the  influence  of  the  British  on  their 
northern  side. 

Many  began  to  despair  of  the  experiment  of  represen 
tative  government  in  America  during  this  "  critical 
period."1  The  infant  republic  seemed  doomed  to  die  in 
its  cradle.  Everything  pointed  to  a  fulfilment  of  Lord 
North's  prediction  that  the  rebelling  colonies  by  internal 

1  John  Fiske  has  fastened  this  deserved  title  upon  this  period  in  his 
excellent  book  bearing  that  name. 


ROBERT  MORRIS  149 

disputes  would  soon  be  compelled  to  come  back  to  the 
protecting  hand  of  the  mother  country.  Washington's 
was  the  arm  of  faith  that  upheld  all  with  whom  he  came 
in  contact.  From  his  home  at  Mount  Vernon,  whither 
he  had  retired  after  saving  the  military  life  of  the  repub 
lic,  he  sent  letters  to  his  friends  in  the  various  states 
begging  them  to  assist  in  saving  the  political  life  of  the 


young  nation.  With  his  close  friend,  Robert  Morris, 
Washington  no  doubt  held  many  conferences  upon  the 
state  of  the  country  when  he  was  the  guest  of  the 
wealthy  Morris  in  Philadelphia,  while  attending  the 
meeting  of  the  Cincinnati1  or  at  such  time  as  he  chanced 

1  The  Society  of  the  Cincinnati  was  organized  by  the  surviving  officers 
of  the  Revolutionary  war. 


150         THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION* 

to  see  him.  A  few  years  later,  he  sent  to  Mrs.  Morris 
one  of  the  proofs  of  an  engraving  by  Sergent,  with  his 
compliments. 

Notwithstanding  the  political  troubles,  the  commercial 
instinct  of  Morris  saw  opportunities  for  investment  in 
the  numerous  land  and  canal  schemes  which  were  formed, 
many  of  them  through  his  agency,  during  the  post- 
Revolutionary  days.  No  doubt  these  speculations  and 
the  sad  end  to  which  they  brought  him  made  people 
overlook  the  service  which  he  had  rendered  at  the  very 
beginning  of  the  Union.1  His  foreign  birth,  his  osten 
tatious  manner  of  living,  his  wealth,  and  his  unenviable 
official  duties  conspired  to  this  end.  But  some  will  ever 
apply  to  Robert  Morris  the  lament  of  the  Preacher  who 
had  seen  "  a  little  city  with  few  men  in  it  delivered  by  a 
poor  wise  man,  yet  no  man  remembered  that  same  poor 
man." 

1  In  the  speculating  mania  following  Hamilton's  assumption  measures, 
Morris  became  the  head  of  numerous  enterprises.  He  bought  nearly  half 
of  the  lots  in  the  future  capital  of  Washington.  In  1798  the  crash  came. 
Morris  was  unable  to  meet  his  obligations  and,  according  to  the  law  of  the 
time,  fell  into  Prune-street  prison,  Philadelphia,  where  he  lay  almost  three 
years  until  released  by  the  passing  of  a  law  in  Pennsylvania  prohibiting 
imprisonment  for  debt.  He  lived  but  four  years  after  his  release.  His 
new  mansion,  nicknamed  "  Morris's  Folly,"  was  torn  down  before  it  was 
completed. 


CHAPTER  V 

ALEXANDER    HAMILTON,    THE    ADVOCATE    OF    STRONGER 
GOVERNMENT 

.  .  .  And  thou 

Our  city's  boast,  to  whom  so  much  we  owe, 
In  whom,  the  last  and  youngest  of  the  three, 
No  common  phase  of  excellence  we  see, 
In  every  grateful  heart  thou  hast  a  place, 
Nor  time  nor  circumstance  can  e'er  erase  ! 

Discord  shall  cease  and  perfect  Union  reign 
And  all  confess  that  sweetly  powerful  chain 
The  Federal  System,  which  at  once  unites, 
The  Thirteen  States  and  all  the  People's  rights. 

-To  Hamilton,  1788.! 

THAT  the  strength  of  the  new  republic  was  to  lie  largely 
along  commercial  lines  was  indicated  by  the  fact  that  the 
commercial  relations  between  the  states  were  the  first  to 
bring  friction,  the  most  obstinate  to  adjust,  and  the  ones, 
which  finally  brought  a  correction  of  the  whole.  Accord 
ing  to  the  Articles  of  Confederation,  each  state  had 
control  of  its  own  commerce.  Soon  Massachusetts  was 
complaining  that  Connecticut  levied  a  higher  duty  on 
Massachusetts  goods  than  she  did  on  foreign  goods  com 
ing  within  her  borders.  Connecticut  replied  that  she  had 
no  large  ports  attractive  to  foreign  vessels  and  must  get 

1  From  an  Ode  celebrating  in  New  York  the  adoption  of  the  Constitu 
tion  of  the  United  States. 


152         THE  MEN  W 'HO  MADE  THE  NATfOtf 

a  revenue  from  goods  imported  through  her  neighbors. 
New  Jersey  was  pictured  as  bleeding  at  both  stumps, 
since  the  duty  on  the  foreign  goods  consumed  by  her 
was  collected  in  the  ports  of  New  York  and  Pennsylva 
nia  on  each  side  of  her.  Great  Britain  refused  to  allow 
American  vessels  to  trade  with  her  West  Indies.  She 
had  recognized  the  political  independence  of  her  former 
colonies,  but  still  held  them  in  commercial  bondage. 
Madison  declared  that  "  our  trade  was  never  more  com 
pletely  monopolized  by  Great  Britain  when  it  was  under 
the  direction  of  the  British  Parliament  than  it  is  at  this 
moment."  Hamilton  said  that  when  Massachusetts,  New 
York,  and  Pennsylvania  tried  to  retaliate  upon  British 
vessels,  Connecticut,  New  Jersey,  and  Delaware  declared 
their  ports  free  in  order  to  attract  the  forbidden  trade.1 

The  commercial  difficulties  about  New  York  finally 
grew  into  a  comic  warfare.  An  item  from  that  city 
in  a  Virginia  newspaper  said  :  "  The  Assembly  of  New 
Jersey  have  laid  a  tax  of  ,£30  per  month  upon  the  Light- 
House  on  Sandy-Hook  in  that  state.  This  land  being 
40  acres,  was  formerly  purchased  from  the  proprietor, 
Mr.  Hartshorn,  by  the  corporation  of  New  York  for  the 
purpose  of  maintaining  a  Light-House,  public  inn,  and 
a  kitchen  garden  thereon.  This  tax,  it  is  said,  has  been 
imposed  to  counteract  the  severity  of  the  law  in  New 
York,  which  enacts  that  every  wood-boat  and  shallop 
from  New  Jersey,  of  more  than  12  tons,  shall  be  reg 
ularly  entered  and  cleared  out  at  the  custom-house  in  the 

1  The  quotations  from  Hamilton  in  this  chapter  are  to  be  found  in 
Lodge's  "Complete  Works  of  Alexander  Hamilton,"  in  nine  volumes. 
Those  from  Madison  are  from  his  "  Letters  and  Other  Writings,"  in  four 
volumes. 


ALEXANDER  HAMILTON 


153 


same  manner  as  if  they  had  arrived  from  any  foreign 
port."  l  Shippers  of  New  Jersey  and  Connecticut  bound 
themselves  by  agreement  under  penalty  of  ^50  not  to 
ship  anything  into  New  York  or  furnish  any  New  York 
craft  with  any  kind  of  lading  for  one  year  unless  the 
odious  overcharge  of 
dockage  was  removed 
as  well  as  the  restric 
tions  which  New  York 
had  placed  upon  the 
cartage  of  firewood. 

From  many  such 
instances  Madison 
thought  that  "most  of 
our  political  evils  may 
be  traced  up  to  our 
commercial  ones."  His 
own  state  of  Virginia 
showed  wisdom  by  co 
operating  with  her 
neighbor,  Maryland,  in 
attempting  to  secure  a 
peaceful  navigation  of 
the  Potomac  and  other 
navigable  waters  be 
tween  them,  although 
such  an  agreement  was 

considered  by  others  as  contrary  to  the  provisions  of 
the  Articles  of  Confederation.     In  the  winter  of  1784-85 

1  The  Virginia  Independent  Chronicle,  August  8,  1787.  The  accom 
panying  illustration  of  the  lighthouse  is  from  the  New  York  Magazine, 
August,  1790. 


SANDY  HOOK  LIGHTHOUSE 


154          THE  MEN  WHO  MADE   THE  NATION 

the  two  states  appointed  a  joint  commission  of  eight 
men  to  meet  the  following  spring  at  Alexandria,  the 
head  of  navigation  on  the  Potomac.1 

Ten  miles  down  the  river  lived  Washington,  than 
whom  no  one  was  more  interested  in  the  questions  likely 
to  be  discussed.  He  had  been  instrumental  in  securing 
the  appointment  of  delegates,  although  himself  not 
among  their  number.  His  diary  shows  : 

"  Major  Jenifer  came  here  to  dinner — and  my  carriage  went 
to  Gunston  Hall  to  take  Col°  Mason  to  a  meeting  of  Com18  at 
Alexandria  for  settling  the  Jurisdiction  of  Chesapeak  Bay  &  the 
River  Potomak  &  Pocomoke  between  the  States  of  Virginia 
&  Maryland.  March  21.  —  Major  Jenifer  left  this  for  Alex 
andria  after  Dinner.  March  22.  —  Went  to  Alexandria  —  dined 
&  returned  in  the  Evening.  March  24.  —  Sent  my  carriage  to 
Alexandria  for  Col°  Mason  according  to  appointment  —  who 
came  in,  about  dusk.  March  25.  —  About  One  o'clock  Major 
Jenifer,  Mr  Stone,  Mr  Chase,  &  Mr  Alexr  Henderson  arrived 
here.  March  27.  —  Mr  Henderson  went  to  Colchester  after 
dinner  to  return  in  the  morning.  March  28.  —  Mr  Henderson 
returned  to  the  Meeting  of  the  Commissioners  abf  10  Oclock 
—  and  Mr  Chase  went  away  after  dinner.  March  29.  — Major 
Jenifer,  Mr  Stone  and  Mr  Henderson  went  away  before  break 
fast  &  Col°  Mason  (in  my  Carriage)  after  it ;  by  the  return 
of  which  he  sent  me  some  young  Shoots  of  the  Persian  Jessa 
mine  &  Guilder  Rose." 

Four  days  were  spent  in  getting  the  commission 
together  at  Alexandria.  The  latter  sessions,  owing  to 

1  From  Virginia :  George  Mason,  Edmund  Randolph,  James  Madison, 
and  Alexander  Henderson ;  from  Maryland  :  Daniel  of  St.  Thomas  Jenifer, 
Thomas  Johnson,  Thomas  Stone,  and  Samuel  Chase.  Madison,  Randolph, 
and  Johnson  failed  to  attend  the  meeting. 


ALEXANDER  HAMILTON  155 

poor  accommodations,  were  held  at  Mount  Vernon  upon 
invitation  of  Washington.1  Out  of  the  report  of  this 
commission  to  their  respective  states  grew  the  call  of 
Virginia  for  a  convention  of  commissioners  from  all  the 
states  to  meet  at  Annapolis  the  following  summer  to 
consider  the  commercial  defects  of  the  Confederation. 
This  call  attracted  the  attention  of  Hamilton,  con 
stantly  on  the  alert  for  some  agency  which  might  correct 
the  faults  of  the  existing  government.  He  succeeded 
in  getting  five  delegates,  himself  among  the  number, 
appointed  by  the  New  York  Legislature  to  attend  this 
meeting ;  but  when  the  time  arrived  only  Attorney- 
general  Benson  and  himself  set  out.  Of  the  remaining 
three,  one  was  ill,  one  was  too  busy,  and  the  third  made 
no  excuse.  Arrived  at  Annapolis,  Hamilton  shared  the 
general  disappointment.  Only  five  states  were  repre 
sented.2  To  Monroe,  who  wrote  despairingly  from  Con 
gress,  Madison  replied  from  Annapolis  :  "  Our  prospect 
here  makes  no  amends  for  what  is  done  with  you.  Dela 
ware,  New  Jersey,  and  Virginia  alone  are  on  the  ground; 
two  Commissioners  attend  from  New  York,  and  one 
from  Pennsylvania.  Unless  the  sudden  attendance  of 
a  much  more  respectable  number  takes  place,  it  is  pro 
posed  to  break  up  the  meeting,  with  a  recommendation  of 
another  time  and  place,  and  an  intimation  of  the  expe- 

1  Such  hospitality  was  not  unusual  in  the  home  of  this  wealthy  Virginia 
planter.     Under  date  of  June  30,  1785,  Washington  wrote  in  his  diary: 
"  Dined  with  only  Mrs-   Washington,  which  I  believe  is  the  first  instance 
of  it  since  my  retirement  from  public  life,"  two  years  before. 

2  From  New  York:   Alexander   Hamilton  and  Egbert  Benson;    from 
New  Jersey  :  Abraham  Clark,  William  C.  Houston,  and  James  Schureman; 
from    Pennsylvania:    Tench   Coxe;    from  Delaware:    George  Read,  John 
Dickinson,  and  Richard  Bassett;   from  Virginia:  Governor  Edmund  Ran' 
dolph,  James  Madison,  and  St.  George  Tucker. 


156         THE  MEN"  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

diency  of  extending  the  plan  to  other  defects  of  the 
Confederation." 

Everything  seemed  to  work  against  the  meeting. 
The  bickerings  among  the  states  had  destroyed  what 
little  feeling  of  nationality  and  willingness  for  coopera 
tion  had  been  engendered  by  the  war.  It  was  the  low 
tide  of  unity.  The  air  was  rife  with  rumors  of  the 
dissolution  of  the  four-year-old  Confederation.  New 
England  feared  the  secession  of  the  "back  country" 
people,  settled  in  the  Ohio  and  Tennessee  valleys,  be 
cause  of  the  unchecked  Spanish  impositions  on  their 
lower  Mississippi  trade.  Washington  wrote  to  Harrison 
that  the  touch  of  a  feather  would  turn  them  any  way. 
Yet  the  government  was  too  weak  to  force  Spain  to 
desist,  even  if  New  England  had  been  willing  to  do  it 
for  the  sake  of  this  remote  west.  The  southern  states 
even  fell  to  questioning  the  allegiance  of  New  England. 
Monroe  wrote  from  New  York,  "  Conventions  are  held 
here  of  Boston  men  and  others  of  this  state  upon  the 
subject  of  a  dissolution  of  the  states  east  of  the  Hudson 
river  from  the  union  and  the  erection  of  them  into  a 
separate  state." 

Another  reason  for  failure  to  cooperate  at  this  time 
was  the  question  of  revenue  on  imported  goods.  Some 
feared  a  convention  would  lead  to  the  giving  of  this 
power  to  the  central  government  and  its  loss  to  the 
states.  Others  feared  a  convention  unrecognized  by 
the  Congress  would  lead  to  revolution.  All  through  the 
question  ran  the  rising  fever  for  a  new  issue  of  paper 
money,  which  might  be  prevented  by  a  convention.1 

1  Replying  to  Washington's  inquiry  why  the  New  England  states  failed 
to  send  delegates  to  Annapolis,  General  Knox  attributed  the  neglect  of 


ALEXANDER  HAMILTON  157 

Hamilton  was  a  leading  spirit  at  Annapolis  in  insisting 
upon  organization.  John  Dickinson,  of  Delaware,  an 
active  spirit  during  Revolutionary  days,  was  placed  in 
the  chair.  The  reading  of  the  credentials  of  delegates 
followed,  and  those  of  New  Jersey  were  found  to  give 
power  of  devising  "  a  uniform  system  in  their  commer 
cial  relations  and  other  important  matters."  Appreciat 
ing  the  value  of  this  liberal  instruction,  Hamilton  drew 
up  a  plan  for  another  meeting  the  following  spring 
(1787)  to  consider  the  defects  of  the  Confederation  in  a 
wider  sense.  The  suggested  place  of  meeting,  Phila 
delphia,  the  old  capital,  was  calculated  to  arouse  national 
patriotism.  The  appeal  was  toned  down  a  little  from 
the  Hamiltonian  pitch  and  then  adopted.  After  a  four 
days'  session,  the  convention  adjourned  with  a  call  for 
another  convention  as  the  only  visible  fruit  of  their 
labors,  and  more  despondent  than  hopeful  of  the  result. 
But  fate  was  intending  to  make  this  Annapolis  conven 
tion  famous  as  the  turning  point  in  the  long-continued 
ill  fortune. 

In  order  to  avoid  the  scruples  some  had  held  against 
the  Annapolis  convention,  the  call  for  this,  Philadelphia 
meeting  was  sent  to  Congress,  where  it  lay  for  five 
months.  In  the  meantime  the  legislatures  of  several 
states  began  to  take  action,  and  Congress  was  compelled 
to  take  the  matter  up  or  be  again  ignored.  But  the  fear 
of  allowing  the  initiative  to  come  from  the  Annapolis 

New  Hampshire  to  "torpidity";  of  Rhode  Island  to  "faction  and  heats 
about  their  paper  money";  of  Connecticut  to  "jealousy."  "Massachu 
setts  had  chosen  delegates  to  attend  who  did  not  decline  until  very  late, 
and  the  finding  of  other  persons  to  supply  their  places  was  attended  with 
delay,  so  that  the  convention  had  broken  up  by  the  time  the  new-chosen 
delegates  had  reached  Philadelphia." 


158          THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

meeting  caused  the  substitution  of  a  new  call  from  the 
Massachusetts  delegates  as  a  starting  point.  The  time 
and  place  were  made  to  coincide  with  the  Annapolis 
appeal.  It  was  true  that,  in  1785,  Massachusetts  had 
suggested  a  convention  of  the  people  as  a  proper  agency 
to  remedy  the  faults  in  the  frame  of  government,  but  so 
had  Hamilton  as  early  as  1780.  A  convention  com 
posed  of  delegates  chosen  by  the  people  for  this  specific 
purpose  was  as  near  self-government  as  could  ever  be 
realized. 

In  securing  the  appointment  of  delegates  for  this 
convention  by  the  Legislature  of  his  own  state,  Hamilton 
had  to  duplicate  his  task  of  the  preceding  year.  It  was 
not  easy.  New  York  was  filled  with  the  idea  of  partic 
ularism.  She  realized  the  future  prospects  of  her  har 
bor,  the  transportation  value  of  the  Hudson  river,  her 
importance  as  the  coming  commercial  state,  and  the 
promise  of  her  chief  city.  To  yield  the  control  of  her 
foreign  commerce  to  the  Union  seemed  at  the  time  vir 
tual  suicide.  It  would  be  the  severance  of  the  main 
stem  of  her  resources.  Therefore  Madison,  who  was 
now  in  New  York  attending  Congress,  could  write : 
"  The  deputation  of  New  York  consists  of  Colonel 
Hamilton,  Judge  Yates,  and  a  Mr.  Lansing.  The  two 
last  are  said  to  be  pretty  much  linked  to  the  anti-federal 
party  here,  and  are  likely,  of  course,  to  be  a  clog  on  their 
colleague." 

All  through  the  states  the  work  of  appointing  dele 
gates  went  on,  actuated  by  the  spirit  of  Virginia,  of 
which  Madison  wrote  to  Washington :  "  It  has  been 
thought  advisable  to  give  this  subject  a  very  solemn 
dress  and  all  the  weight  that  could  be  derived  from  a 


ALEXANDER   HAMILTON  159 

single  State.  This  idea  will  be  pursued  in  the  selec 
tion  of  characters  to  represent  Virginia  in  the  federal 
Convention.  You  will  infer  our  earnestness  on  this 
point  from  the  liberty  which  will  be  used  of  placing 
your  name  at  the  head  of  them."  Only  in  Rhode 
Island  did  appointments  fail  to  be  made. 

Rhode  Island  was  simply  an  extreme  case  of  the 
financial  situation  everywhere.  It  was  the  oft-recurring 
struggle  between  creditor  and  debtor;  between  the 
city  merchant  and  the  agriculturist ;  between  brains 
and  strength  of  numbers.  In  trying  to  hit  upon  some 
plan  to  avoid  taxes  and  to  pay  debts,  the  masses  had 
created  a  bank  whose  paper  money  had  to  be  accepted 
in  payment  of  all  obligations.  The  merchants  refused 
it,  and  trade  became  paralyzed.  Then  every  one  was 
forced  under  penalty  to  take  a  "test  oath"  that  he 
would  support  the  bank  and  accept  the  money  at  par, 
although  it  had  fallen  to  six  to  one  of  coin.  Debtors 
brought  in  their  money  in  bags  to  discharge  their 
mortgages. 

The  attitude  of  Rhode  Island  placed  her  in  ill  repute 
among  her  sister  states.1  Her  people  were  called 

1  The  following  stanza  on  Rhode  Island  appeared  in  the  Virginia 
Independent  Chronicle  of  June  20,  1 787 : 

"  Mild  is  my  clime,  salubrious  is  my  air, 
My  prospect  charming,  and  my  females  fair; 
My  fertile  fields  do  yield  a  plenteous  store, 
Enough  for  my  own  use,  and  rather  more; 
And  yet,  alas !  I'm  in  a  woful  case; 
For  I  am  cover'd  o'er  with  foul  disgrace : 
I  blush  to  lift  my  head  before  the  UNION, 
For  with  my  sisters  I  refuse  communion. 
Alas,  for  me  !  how  dismal  is  my  fate  ! 
My  freeborn  sons  are  so  degenerate 
I  fear  their  party  broil's  will  overturn  my  state." 


160          THE  MEN-  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

"  Rogues  Islanders,"  because  they  insisted  on  paying 
debts  in  depreciated  money.  From  the  frequent  proc 
lamations  necessary  to  bolster  up  this  money,  her 
people  were  also  known  as  "  Know  Ye  men  "  and  her 
money  as  "  Know  Ye  "  money. 1  Her  "  leathern  apron 
worthy  "  referred  to  a  blacksmith  who  had  been  made 
lieutenant-governor.  The  lawless  sentiment  was  in  the 
ascendency.  It  sympathized  with  and  even  aided  the 
Shays  rebellion  in  Massachusetts. 

This  insurrection  of  Shays  in  orderly,  Puritanical  old 
Massachusetts  opened  the  eyes  of  the  people  and 
showed  them  the  dangerous  situation  into  which  neglect 
of  civic  duty  and  an  over-regard  for  the  individual  had 
allowed  the  republic  to  drift.  It  was  not  composed  of  a 
lawless  element,  but  of  country  people,  groaning  under 
taxes  and  burdened  with  debt,  who  saw  claims  filed 
against  them  under  the  law  and  processes  issuing  from 
the  courts  under  which  their  farms  and  cattle  were  sold 
and  themselves  reduced  to  penury.  The  paper  money 
of  the  state  was  in  the  hands  of  speculators.  The 
national  government  had  no  mint.  No  money  could  be 
had  to  pay  debts. 

Town  meetings  showed  the  first  signs  of  the  storm  in 
Massachusetts.  Resolutions  demanded  that  courts  be 
forever  abolished ;  that  the  "  growing  Power  of  Attor 
neys  or  Barristers  at  Law  "  be  checked ;  that  the  state 

1  A  burlesque  proclamation  in  the  Chronicle  of  Freedom  reads: 

"  To  all  Knaves,  or  all  who  wish  to  be  Knaves  throughout  the  World, 

Greeting  ; 

KNOW  YE!! 

That  by  virtue  of  authority  in  me  reposed  I  hereby  inform  you  .  .  .  there 

is  at  length  an  asylum  provided  for  you.  ...     If  you  owe  ^8000,  fly  to 

Rhode  Island;   there  .£1000  will  discharge  the  whole," 


ALEXANDER  HAMILTON  161 

Legislature  be  removed  from  Boston ;  that  money  on 
hand  and  at  interest  be  taxed ;  and  that  land  taken  for 
debt  should  be  valued  at  the  price  at  which  it  stood 
when  the  debt  was  contracted.  From  words  the  insur 
gents  took  to  arms  to  close  the  courts. 

An  ex-army  chaplain,  Day,  and  especially  a  Revolu 
tionary  captain,  Daniel  Shays,  became  accidental  leaders 
in  the  series  of  uprisings  which  so  alarmed  the  country. 
The  Congress  was  powerless  under  the  existing  govern 
ment  to  coerce  the  citizens  of  a  state.  Was  Massachu 
setts  strong  enough  to  protect  herself  ?  Washington 
wrote  to  David  Humphreys  :  "  What,  gracious  God  !  is 
man,  that  there  should  be  such  inconsistency  and  per- 
fidiousness  in  his  conduct  ?  It  was  but  the  other  day, 
that  we  were  shedding  our  blood  to  obtain  the  constitu 
tions  under  which  we  now  live  ;  constitutions  of  our  own 
choice  and  making,  and  now  we  are  unsheathing  the 
sword  to  overturn  them." 1 

Rhode  Island  and  Massachusetts  were  not  alone  in 
illustrating  the  loss  of  law  and  order.  According  to 
Madison,2  the  prison,  court  house,  and  clerk's  office  in 
several  counties  of  Virginia  were  burned.  Elsewhere 
the  course  of  justice  was  stopped,  and  associations  were 
formed  not  to  pay  taxes. 

When  Hamilton  arrived  at  Philadelphia  in  May,  1787, 
he  found  that  the  reaction  had  set  in.  "  Shaysism  "  had 
alarmed  the  country.  Delegates  were  arriving  every 
day,  and  they  were  truly  "the  flower  of  the  continent." 

1  The  rebellion  lasted  from  August,  1785,  to  the  following  February, 
included  fifteen  thousand  men,  and  resulted  in  three  deaths.     See  Knox's 
letters  to  Washington,  Sparks's  "  Washington,"  Vol.  IX.,  pp.  207,  234. 

2  "  Madison's  Works,"  Vol.  I.,  p.  339. 

M 


1 62          THE  MEW  WHO  MADE   THE  NATION 

They  included  the  governors  of  Virginia  and  New 
Jersey,  the  president  of  Pennsylvania,  an  ex-governor  of 
North  Carolina,  and  an  ex-president  from  South  Caro 
lina  and  from  Pennsylvania,  the  chancellors  of  Virginia 
and  South  Carolina,  the  attorney-generals  of  New  Jer 
sey,  Connecticut,  and  Delaware,  and  chief  justices  from 
Virginia,  Connecticut,  and  New  York.  Each  state  was 
allowed  to  send  as  many  as  it  chose,  and  Pennsylvania 
led  with  seven.  The  popular  number  was  five.  The 
"  Indian  Queen  "  was  crowded,  and  every  room  in  Mrs. 
Mary  House's  lodging  house  on  Fifth  and  Market 
streets  was  taken.  It  was  no  doubt  a  relief  to  her  when 
General  Washington  decided  to  accept  an  invitation  to 
lodge  with  Robert  Morris. 

Washington  had  consented  to  attend  the  Convention 
as  a  Virginia  delegate  only  on  the  earnest  solicitation  of 
many  friends.  The  governor  of  his  state  had  written 
him  :  "  I  am  persuaded,  that  your  name  has  had  already 
great  influence  to  induce  the  States  to  come  into  the 
measure,  that  your  attendance  will  be  grateful,  that 
your  presence  would  confer  on  the  assembly  a  national 
complexion,  and  that  it  would  more  than  any  other  cir 
cumstance  induce  compliance  with  the  propositions  of 
the  convention." 

Washington's  departure  from  home  had  been  delayed 
by  a  rheumatic  complaint  which  necessitated  carrying 
his  arm  in  a  sling  and,  later,  by  a  rumor  that  his  mother 
and  his  sister  were  dangerously  ill.  But  after  giving 
directions  to  his  nephew  for  the  management  of  the 
farm  in  his  absence,  he  set  out  a  "little  after  sunrise" 
on  Wednesday,  May  9,  and  on  the  following  Sunday 
reached  Philadelphia. 


ALEXANDER  HAMILTON-  163 

"May  13.  —  About  8  Oclock  Mr  Corbin  and  myself  set  out, 
and  dined  at  Chester  (Mr8  Withys)  where  I  was  met  by  the 
Genls  Mifflin  (now  Speaker  of  the  Pennsylvania  Assembly) 
Knox  and  Varnum  —  The  Colonels  Humphreys  and  Minges 
—  and  Majors  Jackson  and  Nicholas  —  With  whom  I  proceeded 
to  Philada  —  at  Grays  Ferry  the  City  light  horse  commanded 
by  Col°  Miles  met  me  and  escorted  me  in  by  the  Artillery 
Officers  who  stood  arranged  &  saluted  as  I  passed  —  alighted 
through  a  crowd  at  Mrs  Houses  —  but  being  again  warmly  and 
kindly  pressed  by  Mr  &  Mrs  Rob*  Morris  to  lodge  with  them 
I  did  so  and  had  my  baggage  removed  thither  —  Waited  on 
the  President  Doctr  Franklin  as  soon  as  I  got  to  Town  —  On 
my  arrival,  the  Bells  were  chimed."  l 

Such  attention  had  been  given  to  no  other  delegate, 
and  it  soon  suggested  Washington  as  the  chairman  of 
the  Convention  when  a  quorum  should  make  organiza 
tion  possible.  Ten  days  passed  before  that  desired 
event  happened.  On  Tuesday,  Governor  Randolph  of 
Virginia  arrived ;  on  Thursday,  two  South  Carolina 
delegates  appeared ;  and  on  Friday,  Washington  had 
the  pleasure  of  again  meeting  his  young  favorite  and 
former  aide,  Hamilton. 

On  the  25th,  seven  states  were  represented  by  two  or 
more  delegates,  and  the  sessions  began  in  the  old  Inde 
pendence  Hall,  on  the  lower  floor  of  the  State  House. 
The  morning  was  inclement  and  a  severe  trial  to  the 
gouty  Franklin,  who  had  been  mentioned  as  chairman 
of  the  body,  but  who  wished  to  nominate  Washington 
for  that  position  had  he  been  able  to  attend  the  first 
meeting.  It  is  said  that  the  nomination  of  Washington 

1  From  Washington's  diary,  Sparks's  "  Life  and  Writings  of  Washing 
ton,"  Vol.  IX.,  p.  539. 


164         THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

made  by  Robert  Morris  was  at  the  request  of  Franklin. 
The  vote  was  unanimous.  Major  William  Jackson,  a 
former  aide  to  Washington,  and  now  practising  law  in 
Philadelphia,  was  made  secretary. 

There  must  have  been  some  premonition  of  the 
coming  contentions  and  discord,  since  the  committee 
on  rules,  of  which  Hamilton  was  a  member,  on  the 
third  day  added  this  one,  "  That  nothing  spoken  in 
the  house  be  printed  or  otherwise  published  or  com 
municated  without  leave."  Washington  conscientiously 
wrote  in  his  journal,  "  Attending  the  convention,  and 
nothing  being  suffered  to  transpire,  no  minutes  of  the 
proceedings  have  been,  or  will  be,  inserted  in  this  diary." 
This  secrecy  was  undoubtedly  wise,  since  it  prevented  a 
disclosure  of  the  real  weakness  and  dangerous  condition 
of  the  country.  But  it  was  misunderstood,  and  subjected 
to  violent  criticism  in  the  newspapers.  One  writer  in 
sisted  that  the  opinions  of  thirty-nine  men  secluded 
from  the  rest  of  the  world  could  have  no  weight.  The 
suppression  of  their  minutes  was  declared  to  be  "  the 
highest  insult  that  could  be  afforded  to  the  majority  of 
the  people."  Lampoons  appeared  on  Benny  the  Roofer 
and  Bobby  the  Usurer.1  One  critic  declared  Dr.  Frank 
lin  a  fool  from  age  and  Washington  a  fool  from  nature. 

Being  unable  to  penetrate  the  closed  doors,  the  people 
harbored  wild  rumors  concerning  the  action  of  the  Con 
vention.  A  division  into  three  republics,  which  Madi 
son  said  was  seriously  considered  before  the  Convention 
met,  was  now  understood  to  be  resolved  upon.  Some 
said  the  failure  of  the  republic  had  been  admitted,  and 
that  the  Bishop  of  Osnaburg,  the  second  son  of  George 

1  Referring  to  Benjamin  Franklin  and  Robert  Morris. 


ALEXANDER  HAMILTON-  165 

III.,  had  been  elected  king  of  the  United  States.  A 
precedent  for  such  an  election  had  been  found  in  the 
case  of  Poland.  Others  guessed  that  Rhode  Island  was 
to  be  annexed  to  Connecticut  or  kept  forever  out  of  the 
Union.  Another  writer,  evidently  having  an  inside  hint, 
said  that  the  difficulties  of  representation  owing  to  the 
unequal  sizes  of  the  states  were  to  be  remedied  by  joining 
Delaware  to  Maryland  and  Rhode  Island  to  Connecticut. 

The  friends  of  good  government  counteracted  these 
prophecies  of  evil  with  pleas  for  confidence  in  the  Con 
vention  and  the  need  of  a  true  Union.  One  writer  used 
the  fable  of  the  farmer  and  the  bundle  of  sticks  to  illus 
trate  this  need ;  another  took  the  homely  but  easily  com 
prehended  illustration  of  a  horse  overturning  a  beehive 
and  being  stung  to  death  by  their  united  strength.  Some 
described  the  condition  of  New  York  commerce  where 
not  a  vessel  was  building.  Others  pointed  to  the  wharves 
of  Philadelphia  where  sixteen  British  vessels  and  but 
one  American  vessel  were  being  loaded. 

On  the  4th  of  July,  these  promoters  of  Union  offered 
toasts  to  the  final  success  of  the  Convention.  The 
Philadelphia  Society  of  the  Cincinnati  heard  an  ora 
tion  in  the  Reformed  Calvinist  church,  to  which  the 
delegates  also  listened,  and  a  salute  of  twenty-four 
rounds  was  fired  by  the  Light  Horse  Infantry  stationed 
near  the  State  House.  The  various  public  houses  gave 
especial  dinners.  Additional  attentions  were  shown  the 
visitors  from  time  to  time.  They  were  invited  to  visit 
the  Academy  on  Fourth  street,  the  Bettering  House, 
and  to  attend  meetings  of  the  Society  of  Agriculture  in 
the  Carpenters'  Hall.  They  were  also  made  familiar 
with  the  workings  of  the  Society  for  Home  Manufac- 


1 66    THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

ture.  Private  dinners  were  given  at  the  country-seats 
of  wealthy  gentlemen  near  the  city  and  small  entertain 
ments  in  the  pleasure  grounds  at  Gray's  Ferry.  One 
day  General  Washington  reviewed  the  Pennsylvania 
militia.  One  evening  he  attended  in  the  College  Hall 
a  public  lecture  by  Mrs.  O'Connell  on  "The  Power  of 
Eloquence."  "The  lady,  being  reduced  in  circum 
stances,  had  had  recourse  to  this  expedient  to  obtain 
a  little  money.  Her  performance  was  tolerable,"  said 
Washington.  The  newspapers  declared  that  "  notwith 
standing  the  tempestuous  weather,"  the  lecture  was 
"attended  by  a  brilliant  crowd  of  his  [Washington's] 
friends  of  both  sexes,"  who  highly  praised  him  as  a 
patron  of  the  arts  and  sciences. 

Entertainment  of  a  more  permanent  kind  was  afforded 
on  the  Delaware  river  one  day  in  August  by  a  man 
named  John  Fitch,  who  had  constructed  a  boat  forty-five 
feet  long.  In  this  he  had  placed  an  engine  which  pro 
pelled  six  upright  oars  on  each  side  of  the  vessel.  His 
earlier  attempt  at  steam  navigation  had  been  received 
with  "shouts  of  ridicule,"  and  his  years  of  besieging 
various  state  legislatures  for  aid,  and  beseeching  men  of 
wealth  to  embark  in  his  enterprise,  had  made  him  the 
butt  of  innumerable  jokes.  He  said  that  nearly  all 
the  delegates  save  Washington  came  to  the  river  front 
to  see  his  latest  boat.1  Oliver  Ellsworth,  of  Connecti 
cut,  was  upon  it,  and  Dr.  Johnson,  of  Connecticut,  gave 
him  a  testimonial.  Governor  Randolph,  of  Virginia,  also 

1  This  was  Fitch's  second  boat.  Brissot  de  Warville,  a  French  traveller, 
says  of  it :  "I  went  to  see  an  experiment  near  the  Delaware  on  a  boat,  the 
object  of  which  is  to  ascend  rivers  against  the  current.  The  inventor  was 
Mr.  Fitch,  who  had  formed  a  company  to  support  the  expence.  .  .  .  The 
invention  was  disputed  between  Mr.  Fitch  and  Mr.  Rumsey,  of  Virginia. 


ALEXANDER  HAMILTON' 


i67 


viewed  it.  Yet  so  slow  was  capital  to  invest  in  new 
enterprises,  and  so  reluctantly  did  people  patronize  new 
agencies,  that  it  was  twenty  years  before  Fulton's  boat 
was  running  regularly  between  New  York  and  Albany. 
The  card-writers  who  kept  the  Philadelphia  news 
papers  teeming  with  their  attacks  and  defences  of  the 


Convention  had  drawn  into  the  controversy  a  Connecti 
cut  schoolmaster,  Noah  Webster,  who  had  come  down 
to  Philadelphia  to  lecture  on  his  new  system  of  spelling. 
He  had  published  a  "Grammatical  Institute,"  in  three 
parts,  designed  to  instruct  in  pronouncing,  speaking, 

However  it  be,  the  machine  which  I  saw  appears  well  executed  and  well 
adapted  to  the  design.  The  steam  engine  gives  motion  to  three  [sic]  large 
oars  of  considerable  force,  which  were  to  give  sixty  strokes  per  minute." 


1 68    THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

and  writing  the  English  language  correctly.1  Webster 
was  not  a  man  to  hide  his  light,  and  he  was  soon  in  the 
midst  of  a  newspaper  controversy.  Some  declared  him 
to  be  an  emissary  of  Shays.  Infuriated  at  this  charge, 
he  described  his  writings  in  the  Massachusetts  press 
against  Shaysism  and  said  he  had  done  as  much  as  any 
man  to  put  it  down.  His  enemies  then  ridiculed  "  His 
Honor,  Squire  Web.  .  .  r,  alias  the  Trotabout  Pedagogue, 
who  has  slain  thousands  with  his  gray  goose  quill." 
Turning  their  attention  to  his  book,  they  made  sport  of 
his  new  word  "  yeif  "  (if)  and  such  innovations  as  encroach, 
incalculate,  swerve,  purport,  and  betwixt  (for  between). 
Eventually  the  contest  was  taken  up  by  the  traditional 
enemies,  the  Episcopal  Academy  and  the  University  of 
Pennsylvania,  and  Webster  was  lost  sight  of. 

Even  in  the  scanty  details  of  the  Convention,2  the  ar 
dor  of  Hamilton  is  seen.     He  at  first  spoke  rarely  in  the 

1  The  first  part  of  the  "  Institute  "  became  "  Webster's  Spelling  Book," 
which  has  had  the  largest  sale  of  any  schoolbook  ever  printed.      It  was 
also  the  prototype  of  Webster's  Dictionary.      The   second  part  was  the 
pattern  for  a  school  grammar,  and  the  third  part  for  a  reader.     The  part 
second  shown  in  the  accompanying  illustration  is  in  the  Congressional 
Library  at  Washington.     The  torn  paper  at  the  edges  discloses  the  boards 
in  which  it  is  bound. 

2  The  "  Journal  of  Proceedings  "  was  entrusted  to  Washington,  and  was 
not  made  public  until  after  his  death,  when  it  was  printed  by  Jonathan 
Elliot,  a  Washington  editor,  together  with  the  "  Debates  "  on  adopting  the 
Constitution.      After   Madison's   death,  among  his  papers  was   found  a 
"journal"  of  the   daily  debates   in   the   Convention.     "I    had  chosen  a 
seat  in  front  of  the  presiding  member,  with  the  other  members  on  my 
right  and  left  hands.     In  this  favorable  position  for  hearing  all  that  passed, 
I  noted,  in  terms  legible  and  abbreviations  and  marks  intelligible  to  my 
self,  what  was  read  from  the  Chair  or  spoken  by  the  members;   and  losing 
not  a  moment  unnecessarily  between  the  adjournment  and  reassembling 
of  the  Convention,  I  was  enabled  to  write  out  my  daily  notes  during  the 
session."     These,  with  the  letters  written  by  the  withdrawing  members, 
supply  the  very  scanty  information  about  the  Convention. 


ALEXANDER  HAMILTON  169 

debates,  but  grew  fearful  as  the  new  frame  of  govern 
ment,  designed  to  replace  the  Articles,  assumed  shape 
that  it  had  not  sufficient  strength ;  that  it  would  not  be 
much  superior  in  this  respect  to  the  Articles  themselves. 
Madison  said  that  Hamilton's  early  silence  was  due 
partly  from  respect  to  others  whose  superior  abilities, 
age,  and  experience  rendered  him  unwilling  to  bring  for 
ward  ideas  dissimilar  to  theirs ;  and  partly  from  his 
delicate  position  in  respect  to  his  own  state,  to  whose 
sentiments,  as  expressed  by  his  colleagues,  he  could  by 
no  means  accede.  In  the  fourth  week  of  the  debates, 
Hamilton  arose  to  confess  himself  dissatisfied  with  both 
the  plans  which  the  convention  was  trying  to  harmonize. 
He  would  prefer  a  National  Legislature,  consisting  of  an 
Assembly  chosen  for  three  years  by  the  people  and  a 
Senate  chosen  for  life  by  electors.  He  would  have  a 
Governor  of  the  United  States,  chosen  by  electors,  and 
to  hold  office  during  good  behavior.  Twelve  judges,  to 
serve  during  life,  should  make  up  a  Supreme  Court.  In 
order  to  give  this  central  government  true  national 
strength,  it  should  have  power  to  appoint  the  governors 
of  the  several  states,  who  should  then  have  veto  power 
on  all  state  legislation. 

The  speech  which  accompanied  this  sketch,  delivered 
with  the  true  Hamiltonian  spirit,  had  too  much  praise 
of  the  British  government  to  please  the  Convention,  and 
his  plan  met  with  no  consideration.  Almost  immediately 
he  left  Philadelphia  and  returned  to  New  York,  from 
which  place  he  wrote  to  Washington  that  the  people 
of  that  city  feared  the  Convention  would  "  not  go  far 
enough.  They  seem  to  be  convinced  that  a  strong,  well- 
mounted  government  will  better  suit  the  popular  palate 


I/O          THE  MEN  WHO  MADE   THE  NATION 

than  one  of  a  different  complexion."  He  added  that  he 
was  deeply  distressed  at  the  aspect  of  counsels  which 
prevailed  when  he  left  Philadelphia,  but  would  rejoin  the 
Convention  after  ten  or  twelve  days  if  he  had  reason  to 
suppose  that  his  attendance  would  not  be  a  mere  waste 
of  time. 

The  reply  of  Washington,  in  which  he  declared  the 
situation  worse  than  when  Hamilton  had  left,  and  that 
he  repented  having  had  an  agency  in  the  business  and 
urged  Hamilton's  immediate  return,  must  have  been  balm 
to  the  piqued  New  Yorker.  Even  more  convincing  that 
the  Convention  was  ready  to  listen  to  strong  measures 
was  the  arrival  in  New  York  of  Hamilton's  colleagues, 
Messrs.  Lansing  and  Yates,  who  had  left  the  Convention 
because  the  new  government,  which  it  was  forming,  was 
practically  a  "  consolidation  of  the  states,"  would  destroy 
their  rights,  and  would  bring  no  benefits  in  return.  Per 
haps  the  new  system  would  be  stronger  than  Hamilton 
had  supposed.  In  rising  spirits,  he  wrote  to  his  returned 
colleagues  offering  to  go  back  to  Philadelphia  "  for  the 
sake  of  propriety  and  public  opinion,"  if  either  of  them 
would  accompany  him.  He  also  inquired  twice  of  his 
friend,  Rufus  King,  a  delegate  from  Massachusetts, 
whether  "  a  higher  tone  "  had  not  been  reached  in  the 
proceedings.  He  manifested  a  desire  to  be  in  the 
Convention  when  it  closed.  According  to  the  min 
utes  of  the  Convention,  he  returned  some  day  before 
August  20,  when  a  motion  of  his  was  defeated.  He 
took  an  active  part  in  the  remaining  debates.  Since 
the  final  adoption  of  the  new  Constitution  was  by 
vote  of  states,  and  two  delegates  were  necessary  in 
order  to  have  a  state  represented,  New  York  was  silent; 


If 

k^  MI 

ALEXANDER  HAMILTON-  \  71 

- 

but  Hamilton  was  allowed  from  courtesy  to  sign  the 
document. 

Frequently  nothing  save  respect  for  the  presiding 
officer,1  and  the  conviction  that  the  dissolution  of  the 
Union  would  follow,  had  prevented  the  disbanding  of 
the  Convention.  So  critical  grew  affairs  that  Franklin, 
not  a  member  of  any  church,  moved  that  the  daily  pro 
ceedings  be  opened  by  prayer ;  but  the  proposition  was 
rejected.  It  is  supposed  that  seventy-three  men  were 
connected  with  the  delegations  from  the  various  states 
in  the  Convention.  Of  these,  eighteen  did  not  attend 
and  ten  positively  declined  the  mission.  When  the 
final  vote  on  the  Constitution  was  taken,  sixteen,  who 
had  attended  part  of  the  time,  were  absent.  Of  these, 
four  at  least  had  withdrawn  formally.  Three  of  those 
who  remained  refused  to  sign  the  document  for  various 
reasons.  Indeed,  of  the  fifty-five  men  attending,  only 
thirty-nine  signed.  Among  those  who  declined  to 
attend  were  Patrick  Henry,  Charles  Carroll  of  Carroll- 
ton,  and  Richard  Henry  Lee.  Those  who  refused  to 
sign  were  Elbridge  Gerry,  of  Massachusetts,  Governor 
Randolph  of  Virginia,  and  George  Mason,  of  the  same 
state.  Among  those  who  withdrew,  refusing  to  be  a 
party  to  the  further  proceedings,  were  Luther  Martin 
and  Mercer,  of  Maryland,  and,  as  has  been  said,  the  two 
fellow-delegates  of  Hamilton, — Yates  and  Lansing,  of 
New  York.2 

1  One  of  the  rules  reads,  "  When  the  House  shall  adjourn,  every  mem 
ber  shall  stand  in  his  place  until  the  President  pass  him." 

2  These  figures  are  taken  from  a  monograph  by  Paul  L.  Ford,  whose 
later  investigations  have  supplemented  the  lists  as  given  in  Elliot's  "De 
bates,"  Vol.  I.,  p.   124,  and  in  Sparks's  "Washington's  Works."      John 
Quincy  Adams  made  out  the  list  for  Elliot,  and  found  sixty-five  delegates 
appointed.     Sparks  has  the  same  number. 


172          THE  MEN  WHO  MADE   THE  NATION 

At  last  the  Constitution,  the  fruits  of  almost  four 
months  of  hard  labor  during  the  summer  of  i/S/,1  lay 
before  the  Convention  phrased  in  faultless  English  by 
the  hand  of  Gouverneur  Morris.  In  three  great  com 
promises  the  members  had  reconciled  the  long-standing 
differences  between  the  large  states  and  small  states ; 
between  the  slave-holding  and  non-slavery  interests ; 
between  the  commercial  and  agricultural  elements.  In 
the  closing  hours  Hamilton  had  said  that  no  man's  ideas 
were  more  remote  from  the  plan  than  his  own  were 
known  to  be ;  but  he  would  not  hesitate  between  the 
chance  of  good  coming  from  it,  and  anarchy  and  con 
vulsion.  In  sending  a  copy  to  Lafayette,  Washington 
called  it  a  child  of  fortune,  and  to  Patrick  Henry  he 
wished  it  had  been  more  perfect,  but  sincerely  believed 
it  was  the  best  that  could  be  obtained  at  that  time. 

The  criticism  which  had  attended  the  Convention 
broke  out  afresh  when  the  printed  document  was  given 
out.  This  Convention,  called  for  the  express  purpose 
of  amending  the  Articles  of  Confederation,  had  deliber 
ately  exceeded  its  powers  and  drawn  up  a  new  frame, 
which  it  now  sent  to  the  old  Congress  proposing  that  it 
be  submitted  to  the  states.  When  ratified  by  nine  states 
it  was  to  go  into  effect.  Here  was  a  revolution.  The 
old  government  was  asked  to  commit  suicide.  And 

1  "The  business  being  thus  closed,  the  Members  adjourned  to  the  City 
Tavern,  dined  together  and  took  a  cordial  leave  of  each  other  —  after 
which  I  returned  to  my  lodgings  —  did  some  business  with,  and  received 
the  papers  from  the  Secretary  of  the  Convention,  and  retired  to  meditate 
on  the  momentous  wk  which  had  been  executed,  after  not  less  than  five,  for 
a  large  part  of  the  time  Six,  and  sometimes  7  hours  sitting  every  day 
[except],  Sundays  &  the  ten  days  adjournment  to  give  a  Comee  opportunity 
&  time  to  arrange  the  business  for  more  than  four  Months."  Washing 
ton's  diary.  See  Sparks's  "  Washington,"  Vol.  IX.,  p.  541. 


ALEXANDER  HAMILTON  173 

what  was  offered  in  its  stead  ?  asked  the  critics.  An 
aristocratic  government,  formed  by  aristocrats  in  a 
secret  convention.  There  was  to  be  a  "president" 
elected  every  four  years,  but  as  many  times  as  he  and 
his  supporters  could  manage.  Having  control  of  the 
army  and  navy,  he  would  resemble  the  mighty  Abdul 
Ahmed,  the  Turkish  Sultan ;  the  Senate  would  be  his 
Divan ;  the  standing  army  his  Janizaries ;  the  judges, 
unchecked  by  vile  juries,  his  Cadis ;  Bishop  Seabury 
his  Mufti.  Objection  was  made  to  the  superior  powers 
of  the  Senate,  which  would  eventually  swallow  up  the 
House;  to  the  central  government  having  control  of 
the  state  militia;  to  the  Supreme  Court  having  power 
to  judge  of  law,  equity,  and  fact.  There  was  no  Bill  of 
Rights ;  no  assured  protection  of  the  individual  against 
the  government.1  No  wonder,  it  was  said,  that  President 
Franklin,  of  Pennsylvania,  had  shed  tears  on  signing  such 
a  monstrosity.  It  must  never  be  adopted  by  nine  states. 
The  Assembly  of  Pennsylvania  had  convened  during 
the  sitting  of  the  Convention,  occupying  a  room  in  the 
State  House,  over  that  body.  When  it  attempted  to 
bring  up  the  calling  of  a  state  convention  to  consider  the 
proposed  Constitution,  twenty  of  the  members  from  the 

1  A  handbill  circulated  in  Boston  enumerated,  among  others,  the  fol 
lowing  disadvantages  of  Federalism  upon  the  New  Plan  : 

i.  The  Trade  of  Boston  transferred  to  Philadelphia  ;  and  the  Boston 
tradesmen  starving. 

4.  An  infinite  Multiplication  of  Offices  to  provide  for  ruined  Fortunes. 

5.  A  Standing  Army,  and  a  Navy,  at  all  Times  kept  up,  to  give  genteel 
Employment  to  the  idle  and  extravagant. 

7.  The  wealthy  retiring  to  Philadelphia  to  spend  their  revenues,  while 
we  are  oppressed  to  pay  Rents  and  Taxes  to  Absentees. 

II.  Representatives  chosen  in  such  a  manner,  as  to  make  it  a  Business 
for  Life. 

13.  Religion  Abolished. 


1/4          THE  MEN  WHO   MADE  THE  NATION 

country  absented  themselves  to  prevent  a  quorum. 
The  sergeant-at-arms  and  the  clerk,  with  "a  number  of 
volunteer  gentlemen,"  went  to  Boyd's  coffee-house  and, 
seizing  two  of  the  absentees,1  carried  them  into  the 
Assembly  to  make  up  the  quorum.  There  they  were 
held  and  counted  present  and  as  voting  in  the  affirma 
tive.  In  that  way  was  the  convention  called  in  Pennsyl 
vania,  but  Delaware  succeeded  in  securing  a  convention 
and  ratifying  the  Constitution  before  Pennsylvania, 
although  that  state  was  second.  Similar  signs  of  com 
pulsion  were  not  wanting  elsewhere.  It  was  indeed  a 
pure  revolution  or  overthrow  of  one  frame  of  govern 
ment  by  another.  Quite  naturally,  revolutionary  and 
intimidatory  methods  would  accompany.2 

The  friends  of  the  new  proposition  rallied  to  its  de 
fence.  Taking  the  name  of  "  Federalists,"  they  fastened 
upon  the  opposition  the  name  "  Anti-Federalists."  It 
was  declared  in  Boston  that  an  Anti-Federalist  and  a 
Tory  were  held  in  the  same  esteem.  A  writer  in  a 
Philadelphia  paper  suggested  that  the  state  Assembly 
should  remove  all  Anti-Federalists  from  office.  The 
members  who  ran  away  from  the  Pennsylvania  Assem 
bly  were  threatened  with  violence.3  In  Connecticut  it 

1  Claymont  and  Miley. 

2  A  squib  went  the  rounds  of  the  papers  to  this  effect : 

"Here,  too,  I  saw  some  mighty  pretty  shows, 
A  revolution  without  blood  or  blows; 
For,  as  I  understood  the  cunning  elves, 
The  people  all  revolted  from  themselves." 

3  Among  the  numerous  pasquinades  circulated  on  this  occasion,  one 
stanza  reads : 

"  Though  rascals  and  rogues  they  may  call, 
Yet  now  we  may  laugh  at  them  all; 
'Twas  well  we  escaped  with  whole  bones, 
For  we  merited  horsewhips  and  stones." 


ALEXANDER  HAMILTON  175 

was  proposed  to  "  blacklist "  those  who  refused  to  peti 
tion  the  legislature  to  call  a  convention.  Paul  Revere 
marshalled  his  four  hundred  mechanics  in  Boston,  and 
their  resolutions  had  a  persuading  effect  on  the  Massachu 
setts  convention.  Men  of  property  were  urged  to  stand 
together  for  the  new  plan  and  to  use  tar  and  feathers  if 
necessary.  It  was  a  revival  of  the  old  feeling  against 
the  Tories,  and  one  of  the  first  of  many  exhibitions  of 
intolerance  in  the  republic.  It  was  suggested  by  one 
contributor  that  if  the  Constitution  were  rejected,  Shays 
should  be  made  governor  of  Massachusetts,  and  the 
rest  of  America  should  be  divided  between  Great  Britain 
and  Morocco  ;  that  Silas  Deane,  Galloway,  and  Benedict 
Arnold  should  be  .made  governors  of  America,  but  that 
Arnold  should  not  be  assigned  to  Rhode  Island  lest  he 
be  corrupted  by  living  in  such  a  nest  of  speculators  and 
traitors. 

By  the  close  of  the  year  1787,  New  Jersey  had  rati 
fied.  Early  in  the  new  year  came  Connecticut,  and  then 
followed  Massachusetts,  Georgia,  Maryland,  and  South 
Carolina.  One  more  state  was  needed.  The  conven 
tion  of  New  Hampshire  met,  but  adjourned.  It  was  now 
June,  and  attention  was  divided  between  Virginia  and 
New  York.  In  the  former  state  the  Constitution  was 
attacked  by  Patrick  Henry,  Governor  Randolph,  George 
Mason,  Benjamin  Harrison,  and  young  James  Monroe. 
It  was  defended  by  Madison  and  John  Marshall.  Al 
though  not  in  the  convention,  Washington  gave  his  con 
stant  influence  for  the  adoption  of  the  new  government. 
It  seemed  that  Virginia  would  be  the  ninth  state,  but 
while  the  debates  proceeded,  the  convention  of  New 
Hampshire  reassembled  and  secured  that  honor. 


76 


THE  MEN'  WHO  MADE  THE   NATION 


The  good  news  from  New  Hampshire,  according  to 
the  arrangement  of  Hamilton,  was  carried  by  an  express, 
on  the  shortest  route,  by  frequent  change  of  horse  and 
with  all  possible  diligence,  to  the  New  York  convention 

sitting  at  Pough- 
keepsie.  Hamilton 
had  made  further 
preparations  for 
this  convention  by 
inaugurating  soon 
after  the  forma 
tion  of  the  Fed 
eral  Constitution,  a 
"series  of  papers 
to  be  written  in  its 
defence."  They 
were  issued  sepa 
rately  over  the 
signature  "  Pub- 
lius,"  but  when 
collected  were 
called  "The  Fed 
eralist."  Madison, 
who  had  returned 
to  the  Congress  at 
New  York,  wrote 
some  of  the  num 
bers,  as  did  John  Jay,  a  resident  of  that  city.  These 
essays  were  bound  in  two  volumes,  one  in  "  common  " 
and  the  other  in  "  finer  "  binding,  and  circulated  widely.2 

1  In  the  Philadelphia  Independent  Gazetteer. 

2  Washington  wrote  to  Hamilton  that  he  had  read  every  performance 


-.-b 

f 

and  fjseedity  will  be  publi&ed; 
*       T  HE 

}  FEDERALIST, 

A  Collection  of  E flays  written  iji  fa 

vor  of  the  New  Cbnftttutioh. 

J5y  4  Citiun  tf  New-York, 

Corre&ed  by  the  Author,   with  !  Additions 
•  and  AltcratHons, 

Thttwcrk  noill  h  printed  on  a  fan  Pater 
and  gaud  Tjpe,  iff  iff  ft  candfotne  Vohuot  duo 
decimo,  I  and  delivered  to  fubfcribers  at  tbt  \ 
moderate  frit*  oftne  dollar ^  A  few  -fopies 
tuiti  be  fritted  on  fuper/utg  royal  'writ'tng  pa 
per ',  frtce  tenfiilungt. 

No  bwi'Jt  rttpiirtd  till  dt-rpvery. 
Sfo  render  ibis  work  More  to^plete^ifiUbf 

addedt  •without  any  additional  ixpexce, 

PHILO-PUBLIUS, 


Articles    tf'tbe   Convention, 

At  agrted  upon  at   Pkil&delpbia, .   Srptem- 
hr  ijtb,  178;.    , 


ADVERTISEMENT  OF  "THE  FEDERALIST"1 


ALEXANDER  HAMILTON  177 

Editors  friendly  to  the  new  Constitution  were  urged  to 
reprint  portions  of  them. 

In  the  beginning,  Hamilton  had  written  to  Madison 
from  Poughkeepsie,  "  Our  adversaries  greatly  outnum 
ber  us."  One  month  later  he  wrote,  "  Our  fears  dimin 
ish."  The  opposition  had  commanded  forty-six  out  of 
sixty-five  votes  when  the  convention  opened  and  had 
made  their  leader,  Governor  Clinton,  president.  Ham 
ilton  answered  their  attacks  on  the  Constitution, 
defended  himself  in  a  two  days'  controversy  with  Lan 
sing  against  the  charge  of  having  been  willing  in  the 
Philadelphia  Convention  to  sacrifice  the  states,  and  even 
tually  saw  one  of  his  great  opponents,  Melancton  Smith, 
voting  on  the  affirmative  side.  The  favorable  news 
from  New  Hampshire  had  also  a  good  effect.  It  had 
been  forwarded  by  Hamilton's  father-in-law,  General 
Schuyler,  to  Virginia,  and  had  undoubtedly  shown  the 
futility  of  that  state  holding  out.  In  turn,  the  news 
of  the  adoption  in  Virginia  was  hurried  to  New  York, 
and  aided  in  winning  the  last  of  the  great  states  for  a 
trial  of  the  new  plan,  but  only  by  a  vote  of  thirty  to 
twenty-seven. 

Preparations  for  inaugurating  the  new  government 
were  at  once  undertaken.  It  was  true  that  only  "  eleven 
pillars  "  had  as  yet  been  placed  in  the  "national  edifice." 
But  the  adjournment  of  the  North  Carolina  state  con- 
on  both  sides  of  the  controversy,  and,  without  an  unmeaning  compliment, 
could  say  that  he  had  seen  no  other  so  well  calculated  to  produce  con 
viction  on  the  unbiassed  mind  as  the  production  of  the  "  triumvirate."  To 
Madison  he  wrote,  "  Perceiving  that  the  Federalist  under  the  signature 
of  PUBLIUS  is  about  to  be  republished,  I  would  thank  you  to  forward  me 
three  or  four  copies,  one  of  which  is  to  be  bound,  and  inform  me  of  its 
cost." 


1 78          THE  MEN  WHO  MADE   THE  NATION 

vention  to  see  whether  another  Federal  Convention 
would  not  be  called,'  was  felt  to  be  only  temporary. 
As  for  Rhode  Island,  there  seemed  to  be  a  gen 
eral  determination  to  ignore  her.  The  constitutional 
provision  for  electing  a  President  through  electors 
would  require  time.  The  Confederation  Congress  there 
fore  soon  selected  the  first  Wednesday  in  January  for 
choosing  the  electors  in  the  different  states  in  such 
manner  as  each  might  wish  ;  the  first  Wednesday  in 
February  for  the  meeting  of  these  electors  and  the  cast 
ing  of  their  ballots  ;  and  the  first  Wednesday  in  March 
for  the  meeting  of  the  Senate  and  the  House  of  Repre 
sentatives,  the  opening  of  the  ballots,  and  the  real 
beginning  of  the  new  government.  Having  thus  sealed 
its  death  warrant,  the  poor  old  Congress  slowly  ex 
pired  of  absenteeism.  Intrigue  had  at  once  begun  for 
the  prize  of  the  new  capital.  Philadelphia,  Baltimore, 
Wilmington,  Harrisburg,  and  New  York  were  advo 
cated,  the  latter  eventually  securing  it,  because  the 
government  was  already  located  there  and  no  place 
could  be  agreed  upon.  The  southern  members  pro 
posed  the  Potomac  river,  but  were  defeated  by  the 
middle  states  and  New  England. 

Speculations  were  also  indulged  in  concerning  the 
first  President  and  Vice-President.  Before  the  new  gov 
ernment  had  been  assured  one  month,  Hamilton  wrote 
to  Washington :  "  I  take  it  for  granted,  sir,  you  have 
concluded  to  comply  with  what  will  no  doubt  be  the 
general  call  of  your  country  in  relation  to  the  new  gov 
ernment.  You  will  permit  me  to  say  that  it  is  indis 
pensable  you  should  lend  yourself  to  its  first  operations. 
It  is  of  little  purpose  to  have  introduced  a  system,  if  the 


ALEXANDER  HAMILTON  1 79 

weightiest  influence  is  not  given  to  its  firm  establisli- 
ment  in  the  outset."  * 

Hamilton  undoubtedly  voiced  public  sentiment  when  he 
wrote  in  a  subsequent  letter,  "  I  am  not  sure  that  your 
refusal  would  not  throw  everything  into  confusion." 
Concerning  the  vice-presidency,  he  favored  John  Adams, 
at  this  time  minister  to  England,  rather  than  Hancock, 
although  he  thought  Adams  possessed  certain  "jealous 
ies  "  and  a  rumored  hostility  to  Washington.  Still,  if  not 
made  Vice-President,  he  might  "be  nominated  to  some 
important  office  for  which  he  is  less  proper,  or  become 
a  malcontent."  General  Lincoln  wrote  to  Washington 
that  Massachusetts  was  happy  to  find  it  to  be  "the 
unanimous  voice  of  this  rising  empire  that  Your  Excel 
lency,  who  has  so  just  a  claim  to  the  merit  of  its  estab 
lishment,  should  now  take  it  under  your  protection." 
Franklin  wrote  to  a  French  correspondent,  "  General 
Washington  is  the  man  that  all  our  eyes  are  fixed  upon 
for  President,  and  what  little  influence  I  have  is  devoted 
to  him." 

Hamilton  was  gratified  by  this  growing  assurance 
that  his  former  chief  would  become  the  head  of  this 
last  experiment  in  government,  to  which  he  had  devoted 
so  much  energy  and  for  which  he  had  such  high  hopes. 
The  greatest  danger  was  that  the  Constitution  would 
be  interpreted  so  narrowly  and  administered  so  defer 
entially  that  it  could  not  compete  with  the  states  which 
had  created  it.  A  military  mind  was  not  likely  to  be 
hampered  by  constitutional  quibbles.  It  was  also  quite 
natural  for  Hamilton  to  suppose  that  he  would  not  be 
without  influence  with  Washington  ;  but  that  he  foresaw 

1  Lodge's  "Hamilton's  Works,"  Vol.  I.,  p.  194. 


l8o         THE  MEN-  IV HO  MADE  THE  NATION 

his  great  career  as  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  is  un 
likely.  In  New  York  City,  Hamilton  watched  with 
much  interest  the  preparations  being  made  for  the  inau 
guration  of  the  new  Constitution,  for  whose  inception 
and  final  adoption  he  deserves  more  credit  than  can 
justly  be  ascribed  to  any  other  man. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  first  Wednesday  in  January  next  be  the 
day  for  appointing  electors  in  the  several  states,  which,  before 
the  said  day  shall  have  ratified  the  said  constitution ;  that  the 
first  Wednesday  in  February  next,  be  the  day  for  the  electors  to 
assemble  in  their  respective  states,  and  vote  for  a  president ;  and 
that  the  first  Wednesday  in  March  next,  be  the  time,  and  the 
present  seat  of  Congress  the  place  for  commencing  proceedings 
under  the  said  constitution."  —  Journal  of  [Confederation] 
Congress,  September  13,  1788. 


CHAPTER   VI 

GEORGE    WASHINGTON,    THE    FIRST    PRESIDENT 

NEW  YORK,  April  6,  1 789. 

SIR  :  —  I  have  the  honor  to  transmit  to  your  Excellency  the 
information  of  your  unanimous  election  to  the  office  of  Presi 
dent  of  the  United  States  of  America.  Suffer  me,  sir,  to 
indulge  the  hope  that  so  auspicious  a  mark  of  public  confi 
dence  will  meet  with  your  approbation,  and  be  considered  as 
a  pledge  of  the  affection  and  support  you  are  to  expect  from 
a  free  and  enlightened  people.  I  am,  Sir, 

Yr  obt  sevt, 

JOHN  LANGDON. 

MOUNT  VERNON,  14  April,  1789. 

SIR  :  —  I  had  the  honor  to  receive  your  official  communica 
tion  by  the  hand  of  Mr  Secretary  Thompson,  about  one  o'clock 
this  day.  Having  concluded  to  obey  the  important  and  flatter 
ing  call  of  my  Country,  and  having  been  impressed  with  an  idea 
of  the  expediency  of  my  being  with  Congress  at  as  early  a 
period  as  possible  ;  I  propose  to  commence  my  journey  on 
Thursday  morning  which  will  be  the  day  after  to-morrow.  I 
have  the  honor  to  be  with  sentiments  of  esteem,  Sir, 

Your  obedient  servt, 

GEO.  WASHINGTON. 

WASHINGTON  had  consented  to  undertake  the  task  of 
starting  the  executive  machinery  provided  by  the  newly 
adopted  Constitution.  He  accepted  the  risk  as  he  had 

181 


1 82          THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

done  in  the  Revolution.  If  the  experiment  should  fail 
he  would  go  down  with  it. 

On  the  day  appointed,  the  first  Wednesday  in  Janu 
ary,  the  choice  of  presidential  electors 1  had  been  under 
taken  in  the  several  states  according  to  the  manner  of 
holding  elections  in  each.  In  Massachusetts,  Maryland, 
and  Virginia  the  election  was  left  largely  with  the 
people.  Elsewhere  the  state  legislatures  chose  the  elec 
tors.  Like  the  faithful  citizen  that  he  was,  Washington 
rode  up  to  Alexandria  on  Wednesday,  January  7,  to 
cast  his  vote.  Dr.  Stuart,  who  had  married  Mrs.  Custis, 
the  widow  of  Mrs.  Washington's  son,  was  chosen  elector 
for  the  district. 

During  the  month  before  the  electors  met,  there  was 
no  campaigning  nor  electioneering,  but  it  was  under 
stood  that  Washington's  name  was  one  of  the  two 
which  would  be  written  by  every  elector  on  his  ballot. 
Indeed  it  was  only  the  assurance  that  Washington 
would  be  chosen  and  would  accept  the  headship  of  the 
new  venture  that  had  persuaded  many  timid  people  to 
give  it  a  trial. 

Although  the  ballots  cast  by  the  electors  at  their 
meetings  in  their  respective  states  on  the  first  Wednes 
day  in  February  were  not  to  be  opened  for  a  month, 
Washington  began  quietly  to  make  preparations  to  leave 
the  comfortable  home  and  the  ideal  plantation  he  was 
trying  to  make  at  Mount  Vernon,  and  to  undertake 
again  the  tribulations  of  public  life.  During  the  eight 
years  of  the  Revolutionary  war  he  had  been  at  home 
but  twice,  and  then  for  a  few  days  only.  The  six  years 
since  the  war  had  scarcely  allowed  a  recovery  of  his 

1  As  provided  in  the  Constitution,  Article  II.,  Sections  I,  2,  3,  4. 


GEORGE   WASHINGTON  183 

affairs  and  the  inauguration  of  the  extensive  improve 
ments  which  he  planned  for  his  estate.  His  corre 
spondence  reveals  the  reluctance  with  which  he  viewed 
the  prospect.  To  an  office-seeker  he  said,  "  The  first 
wish  of  my  soul  is  to  spend  the  evening  of  my  days  as 
a  private  citizen  on  my  farm."  To  his  long-time  friend, 
Harrison,  he  wrote,  "  Heaven  knows  that  no  event  can 
be  less  desired  by  me,  and  that  no  earthly  consideration 
short  of  so  general  a  call,  together  with  a  desire  to 
•reconcile  contending  parties  as  far  as  in  me  lies,  could 
again  bring  me  into  public  life."  He  was  obliged  to 
send  his  secretary,  Tobias  Lear,  to  Captain  Richard 
Conway,  of  Alexandria,  to  solicit  the  loan  of  £600  on 
interest.  Otherwise  he  must  be  obliged  to  leave  home 
in  debt  and  without  a  sufficient  sum  to  pay  his  travel 
ling  expenses.  The  financial  hardships  of  the  Confed 
eration  bore  on  the  Virginia  planter  as  well  as  on  the 
Massachusetts  farmer.  Washington  also  gave  the  short 
crops  as  the  cause  of  his  embarrassment.  "  Never  till 
within  these  two  years  have  I  experienced  the  want  of 
money." 

Washington  paid  a  visit  of  respect  to  his  mother  at 
Fredericksburg,  now  in  her  eighty-second  year.  It  was 
a  last  farewell,  since  she  died  the  following  summer. 
To  Governor  Clinton,  of  New  York,  who  tendered  him 
the  use  of  his  house,  Washington  replied  that  he  would 
take  hired  lodgings  or  rooms  in  a  tavern  until  some 
house  could  be  provided.  At  the  same  time  he  wrote 
to  Madison,  a  representative  in  the  new  Congress,  to 
secure  such  public  accommodation  for  him,  as  well  as 
for  his  secretary,  Lear,  and  for  Colonel  Humphreys, 
formerly  his  aide  and  now  a  member  of  his  household 


1 84          7 HE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

In  the  meantime  the  state  legislatures  had  conducted 
their  elections  for  senators  without  much  difficulty  save 
in  New  York,  where  a  deadlock  between  the  two  branches 
prevented  a  choice.  Rhode  Island  and  North  Carolina 
were  also  unrepresented,  since  neither  had  yet  accepted 
the  Constitution.  The  election  of  representatives  in  the 
various  states  had  been  irregularly  conducted,  a  proc 
lamation  of  the  governor  of  New  Jersey  being  necessary 
to  close  the  polls  in  the  eastern  section  after  two  weeks 
of  voting. 

The  members  began  to  assemble  in  New  York  as 
rapidly  as  the  condition  of  the  roads  and  the  opening 
of  navigation  would  permit.  But  when  the  first  Wednes 
day  in  March  arrived,  there  was  no  quorum  in  either 
the  Senate  or  the  House.  It  was  the  same  old  story  of 
neglect.  It  would  have  been  a  surprise  if  anything  con 
nected  with  government  had  started  on  time.  Neverthe 
less,  as  Robert  Morris,  who  had  gone  to  New  York  as 
a  senator  from  Pennsylvania,  wrote  to  his  wife :  "  Last 
night  they  fired  13  cannon  from  the  Battery  here  over 
the  Funeral  of  the  Confederation  and  this  morning  they 
saluted  the  new  Government  with  1 1  Cannon,  being  one 
for  each  of  the  States  that  have  adopted  the  Constitu 
tion.  The  Flag  was  hoisted  on  the  Fort  and  Federal 
Colours  were  displayed  on  the  top  of  the  new  Edifice 
and  at  several  places  of  the  City."  l 

Some  of  the  members  after  waiting  patiently  day 
after  day  for  a  quorum  grew  discouraged.  One  wrote 
home:  "We  lose  ;£iooo  a  day  revenue;  we  lose  credit, 
spirit,  everything,  by  this  delay.  The  public  will  forget 

1  From  a  manuscript  letter  in  the  Pennsylvania  Historical  Society 
Library  at  Philadelphia. 


GEORGE   WASHINGTON  185 

the  government  before  it  is  born.  The  resurrection  of 
the  infant  will  come  before  its  birth.  The  old  Congress 
still  continues  to  meet,  but  it  seems  doubtful  whether 
the  old  government  is  dead  or  the  new  one  alive." 
Others  took  a  more  hopeful  view  of  the  situation,  and 
after  securing  lodgings  walked  about  to  view  the  city 
which  had  by  chance  become  the  first  capital  under  the 
Constitution. 

Especially  the  new  members  were  interested  in  the 
building  provided  by  the  city  of  New  York  for  their 
accommodation.  The  City  Hall,  which  stood  in  Wall 
street  at  the  head  of  Broad  street ,  had  been  erected  in 
1 700 ;  but,  with  thirty  thousand  dollars  raised  by  a  lottery 
and  a  public  subscription,  it  was  now  remodelled  after 
the  plans  of  Major  L' Enfant.  A  new  front  was  placed 
on  the  building,  extending  it  out  over  the  sidewalk  on 
Wall  street  in  a  series  of  arches.  It  embraced  a  small 
balcony,  supported  by  four  Doric  pillars,  and  was  orna 
mented  above  with  the  eagle,  thirteen  stars,  and  bunches 
of  arrows  encircled  with  olive  branches. 

The  vestibule  on  the  ground  floor  opened  into  the  hall 
to  be  occupied  by  the  House  of  Representatives.  This 
room  was  sixty-one  feet  deep,  fifty-eight  wide,  and 
thirty-six  high,  being  lighted  by  large  windows  placed 
sixteen  feet  from  the  floor  and  hung  with  blue  damask. 
The  four  fireplaces  were  ornamented  with  Ionic  columns 
and  pilasters.  Two  galleries  fronted  the  speaker's  plat 
form.  The  lower  gallery  was  on  a  level  with  the  Senate 
chamber,  which  occupied  the  second  story  upon  the 
opposite  side  of  the  building.  This  room  was  forty  feet 
long,  thirty  wide,  and  twenty  high,  with  an  arched  ceil 
ing.  The  ceiling  was  ornamented  with  a  sun  and  thip 


1 86          THE  MEN-  WHO  MADE   THE  NATION 

teen  stars.  The  fireplaces  were  made  of  American 
marble.  Crimson  hangings  were  about  the  windows 
and  the  dais  over  the  Vice-President's  chair.1 

Thirty  representatives  and  twelve  senators  were  nec 
essary  for  a  quorum.  Appeals  were  sent  out  by  the 
impatient  members  already  assembled,  but  it  was  not  so 
easy  to  overcome  habits  of  neglecting  official  duties. 
At  last  on  April  13,  almost  a  month  late,  the  House 
had  a  quorum,  and  one  week  later  the  Senate  was 
equally  fortunate.  The  House  then  marched  up  to 
the  Senate  chamber  and  with  Langdon,  of  New  Hamp 
shire,  president  pro  tern,  of  the  Senate,  in  the  chair,  the 
electoral  ballots  were  opened.  Sixty-five  had  been 
cast  by  the  electors  in  the  various  states,  and  upon  each 
appeared  the  name  of  George  Washington.  With  his 
name  there  appeared  upon  the  various  ballots  for  Vice- 
President  the  names  of  John  Adams,  John  Jay,  Hancock, 
and  a  number  of  men  prominent  in  their  respective 
states.  Adams  had  received  thirty-four,  and  was  de 
clared  elected  to  the  vice-presidency.  Immediately 
Charles  Thomson, 2  clerk  of  the  Continental  Congress 
for  so  many  years,  was  sent  to  the  President-elect  to 
notify  him  of  his  selection,  and  Sylvester  Bowen  [Bourne] 
was  despatched  on  a  similar  errand  to  the  Vice-President 
elect. 

In  three  days,  by  packet  and  horse,  Bowen  reached 
Braintree,  now  a  suburb  of  Boston,  and  found  John 
Adams  trying  to  regain  his  law  practice  after  ten  years' 
absence  on  diplomatic  service  in  Europe.  The  latter 

1  A  full  description  of  this  Federal  Hall,  with  the  cut  reproduced  on 
page  196,  was  printed  in  the  Columbian  Magazine,  August,  1789. 

2  Mention  of  his  services  in   the    Revolutionary  times  was   made    in 
Chapter  III. 


GEORGE   WASHINGTON 


IS/ 


\\\ 


&ew-York,  April 

CO  $  G  R  E 

Yefterd»y  the 
Room,  and,  opened 
Vice-Prefident,    Mr,  LMgcHp  bem|i_ 

Prefident  of  the  Senate  on  this  occsfio^ 
-.ii  \V  ,.  s  H  i  ,\  (.TO  N  was  found  to  h 
Prtfidtm,  «R<3 

:,   l;v  i  ouir  '  ' 


three  years  of  that  time  he  had  spent  most  unhap 
pily  as  the  first  minister  from  the  United  States 
to  England.  He  felt  himself  slighted.  His  demands 
for  an  open  trade  with  the  British  West  Indies  were 
ignored.  Mrs.  Adams  was  snubbed  by  Queen  Charlotte, 
and  no  minister 
was  sent  to  the 
United  States  in 
return.  In  fact 
there  was  not  lack 
ing  the  suggestion, 
all  too  annoying 
because  of  its  truth, 
that  if  thirteen  min 
isters  were  sent  to 
England  by  these 
quarrelling  states, 
one  would  be  sent 
to  them.  John  Ad 
ams,  hard  as  the 
granite  rocks  of 
his  own  Massachu 
setts,  remonstrated 
in  vain,  and  was 
finally  relieved,  re 
turning  to  America 
as  he  said,  "  from 
prison." 

The  critics  of  John  Adams  claimed  that  he  was  sur 
prised  at  the  difference  between  the  number  of  votes 


FULL  NEWS  OF  THE  FIRST  PRESIDENTIAL 
ELECTION  J 


1  From  the  Pennsylvania  Packet.     This  was  the  most  complete  account 
published  of  the  first  election  of  a  President. 


1 88          THE  MEW   IV HO  MADE   THE  NATION* 

cast  for  Washington  and  the  number  cast  for  himself ; 
that  he  could  not  understand  how  a  military  life  could 
be  considered  a  better  training  for  the  presidency  than 
civil  and  diplomatic  experience.  But  Washington  was 
only  the  first  of  a  number  of  war  heroes  in  America 
who  have  been  called  to  civic  honors.  Adams  left  at 
once  for  New  York  and  was  shown  gratifying  attention 
all  along  his  way.  Horsemen  rode  out  to  escort  him 
and  officials  to  greet  him.  Arrived  in  New  York  City, 
he  became  the  guest  of  John  Jay 1  and  wife  at  their 
beautiful  home  on  the  Broad  Way.  Mrs.  Adams  had 
crossed  to  the  continent  when  her  husband  returned  to 
America,  and  she  was  still  abroad.  The  Vice-President 
was  installed  on  April  21,  without  much  ceremony. 

One  week  was  consumed  by  Charles  Thomson,  the 
other  messenger  from  Congress,  in  traversing  the  April 
highways  to  Mount  Vernon.  Two  days  after  his  arrival 
the  President-elect  was  ready  to  start  for  New  York. 
He  seemed  to  have  a  premonition  of  coming  troubles. 
To  his  old  war  friend,  Knox,  he  wrote,  "  My  move 
ments  to  the  chair  of  state  will  be  accompanied  by  feel 
ings  not  unlike  those  of  a  culprit  who  is  going  to  the 
place  of  his  execution  ;  so  unwilling  am  I,  in  the  even 
ing  of  a  life  nearly  consumed  in  public  cares,  to  quit  a 
peaceful  abode  for  an  ocean  of  difficulties."  In  his  jour 
nal,  under  Thursday,  April  16,  he  wrote,  "About  ten 
o'clock  I  bade  adieu  to  Mount  Vernon,  to  private  life, 
and  domestic  felicity,  and  with  a  mind  oppressed  with 
more  anxious  and  painful  sensations  than  I  have  words 

1  Jay  was  still  Secretary  of  Foreign  Affairs  under  the  old  Continental 
Congress.  His  wife  was  the  celebrated  Sarah  Van  Brugh  Livingston, 
eldest  daughter  of  William  Livingston,  of  New  Jersey. 


GEORGE   WASHINGTON  189 

to  express,  set  out  for  New  York  in  company  with  Mr 
Thompson  and  Col°  Humphreys." 

As  he  rode  away  from  the  crescent-shaped  front  of 
his  home,  he  waved  a  farewell  to  Mrs.  Washington,  who 
was  unable  to  endure  the  horseback  journey  to  New 
York  and  was  debarred  from  any  other  means  of  con 
veyance  by  the  condition  of  the  roads  at  that  season  of 
the  year.  As  he  neared  the  boundary  of  his  plantation, 
he  found  his  slaves  assembled  to  bid  him  farewell. 


AN  OLD  VIEW  OF  MOUNT  VERNON  l 

When  he  reached  Alexandria,  his  old  friends  met  him 
and  escorted  him  by  the  ferry  to  Georgetown,  and  dined 
with  him  at  Wise's  tavern.  The  citizens  of  that  village 
presented  him  with  an  address  as  their  Fabius  who,  in 
the  evening  of  his  days,  bids  farewell  to  his  peaceful 
retreat  in  order  to  save  his  country  once  more  from 

1  This  sketch  in  the  Library  of  Congress,  Washington,  is  marked 
"Taken  Aug.  7,  1798,  by  Geo.  L  Parkyns,  Esq."  It  shows  the  land 
approach,  which  was  really  the  front  of  the  house. 


190          THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

confusion  and  anarchy.  A  body  of  citizens  escorted 
him  to  Spurrier's  tavern,  where  he  was  met  by  a  Balti 
more  corps.  Greeted  by  a  discharge  of  artillery,  he 
entered  that  city  the  following  afternoon,  and  stopped 
at  Grant's  Fountain  Inn,  where  a  committee  of  citizens 
waited  upon  him  at  six  o'clock  with  an  address.  Hav 
ing  arrived  too  late  for  a  public  dinner,  he  ate  supper 
with  the  gentlemen  and  retired  about  ten  o'clock.1 

At  half-past  five  the  following  morning  he  rode  out  of 
Baltimore  escorted  by  some  citizens,  who  turned  back, 
after  seven  miles,  upon  his  solicitation.  The  next  morn 
ing  (Sunday)  he  reached  Wilmington,  and  rested  until 
Monday,  when  he  was  waited  upon  by  the  corporation 
and  many  inhabitants  to  present  to  him  an  address. 
Before  high  noon  he  had  reached  Gray's  Ferry  across 
the  Schuylkill,  really  the  entrance  to  Philadelphia,  and 
found  awaiting  him  President  MifHin,  of  the  state  of 
Pennsylvania,  Governor  St.  Clair,  of  the  Northwest 
Territory,  Speaker  Richard  Peters,  of  the  Pennsylvania 
Assembly,  and  other  officials.  The  hand  railing  on  each 
side  of  the  bridge  had  been  dressed  with  laurels  inter 
woven  with  cedar.  A  triumphal  arch  twenty  feet  high, 
surmounted  by  a  liberty  cap,  a  rattlesnake  flag,  and 
eleven  colors,  adorned  each  end.  On  the  west  arch  was 
hung  a  crown  of  laurel,  with  a  line  running  to  the  river 
bank  by  which  a  boy  was  to  allow  the  crown  to  descend 
on  the  head  of  the  hero  as  he  rode  beneath.2 

1  William  Spohn  Baker,  of  Philadelphia,  has  left  a  monument  to  his 
industry  in   collecting  incidents  concerning  Washington.      Some   of  the 
quotations  in  this  chapter  are  to  be  found  in  his  "  Itinerary  of  General 
Washington"  and  "Washington  after  the  Revolution."      Many  of  them 
may  he  found  in  Sparks's  "  Life  and  Writings  of  Washington." 

2  The  Massachusetts  Magazine,  September,  1 792.      The  illustration  on 
the  opposite  page  is  from  the  same  source. 


1 92          THE  MEN  WHO   MADE  THE  NATION 

As  Washington  rode  through  the  streets  of  Philadel 
phia  to  the  magnificent  home  of  his  friend,  Robert 
Morris,  continued  cheering  greeted  him.  No  one  could 
remember  having  seen  so  many  people  on  the  streets. 
At  three  o'clock  he  sat  down  to  a  dinner  of  250  covers 
at  the  City  tavern,  where  a  discharge  of  artillery  greeted 
every  toast.  The  following  morning  he  accepted  numer 
ous  addresses  and  then  departed  for  Trenton,  where  he 
found  a  troop  of  horse  and  a  company  of  infantry, 
"compleatly  equipped  and  in  full  uniform,"  drawn  up  on 
the  Jersey  bank  of  the  Delaware.  When  the  procession 
arrived  at  the  bridge  over  Assanpink  creek,  rendered 
memorable  by  the  battle  of  Trenton,  it  passed  under  a 
triumphal  arch  about  twenty  feet  wide,  and  supported  by 
thirteen  columns.  The  whole  was  decorated  with  laurel, 
running  vines,  and  a  variety  of  evergreens.  On  the 
front  of  the  arch  was  inscribed,  "  The  Defender  of  the 
Mothers  will  also  Protect  the  Daughters."  Above  were 
the  dates  of  the  battles  of  Trenton  and  Princeton.  On 
the  summit  was  a  dome  in  the  shape  of  a  sunflower 
always  pointing  to  the  sun,  as  emblematic  of  the  hopes 
of  the  people  in  Washington. 

"  A  numerous  train  of  ladies,  leading  their  daughters, 
were  assembled  at  the  arch,  thus  to  thank  their  Defender 
and  Protector.  As  the  General  passed  under  the  arch, 
he  was  addressed  in  the  following  SONATA,  composed 
and  set  to  music  for  the  occasion,  by  a  number  of  young 
ladies  dressed  in  white,  decked  with  wreaths  and  chap- 
lets  of  flowers,  and  holding  in  their  hands  baskets  filled 
with  flowers : 

"WELCOME,  mighty  Chief!  once  more, 
Welcome  to  this  grateful  shore  : 


194          THE  MEN  WHO  MADE   THE  NATION 

Now  no  mercenary  foe 
Aims  again  the  fatal  blow  — 
Aims  at  thee  the  fatal  blow. 

"  Virgins  fair,  and  Matrons  grave, 
Those  thy  conquering  arms  did  save, 
Build  for  thee  triumphal  bowers. 
Strew,  ye  fair,  his  way  with  flowers  — 
Strew  your  Heroes  way  with  flowers.'1'1 1 

Lodging  with  President  Witherspoon  at  Princeton 
College,  Washington  reached  New  Brunswick  under 
escort  on  Wednesday,  lodged  at  Woodbridge,  and  on 
Thursday  morning  at  nine  rode  into  Elizabethtown. 
Here  he  was  met  and  joined  by  the  committee  of  Con 
gress  2  and  several  state  officials  from  New  York.  Pro 
ceeding  to  the  Point  on  Newark  bay,  he  found  a  barge 
prepared  for  him,  rowed  by  thirteen  skilful  pilots. 
Crossing  the  bay  and  passing  through  the  Kill  von  Kull, 
the  barge  came  upon  New  York  bay,  to  find  it  alive  with 
small  vessels  gayly  dressed,  which  fell  into  line  behind 
the  official  boat.  A  barge  appeared,  bearing  General 
Knox  and  other  generals.  At  Bedloe's  island  a  large 
sloop  came  up  with  full  sail,  in  which  twenty  men  and 
women  sang  an  ode  to  the  tune  of  "  God  save  the  King." 
Other  odes  were  sung  from  other  boats  and  copies 
handed  to  the  guest  of  honor.  A  Spanish  packet  dis 
closed  the  colors  of  all  nations  and  gave  thirteen  guns, 
with  her  yards  manned. 

The  shores  of  New  York  from  the  fort  to  Murray's 

1  From  the  Gazette  of  the  United  States,  'April  29,  1789.  The  illus 
tration  on  the  preceding  page  is  from  the  Columbian  Magazine,  May, 
1789. 

'2  An  excellent  description  of  the  reception  of  the  first  President  in  New 
York,  written  by  one  of  these  officials,  may  be  found  in  "The  Life  of 
Elias  Boudinot,"  Vol.  II.,  p.  41. 


GEORGE   WASHINGTON-  1 95 

wharf  were  filled  with  people,  "  heads  standing  as 
thick  as  ears  of  corn  before  the  harvest."  From  the 
fort  a  battery  of  eighteen-pounders  thundered.  At  the 
landing  place,  the  stairs  leading  up  from  the  ferry  were 
covered  with  carpet  and  the  railing  with  crimson.  At 
the  head  stood  Governor  Clinton,  of  New  York  State, 
with  staff  and  military.  Near  at  hand  the  old  Revolu 
tionary  soldiers  were  drawn  up.  Through  this  vast 
crowd,  Washington  was  escorted  to  the  Osgood  or 
Walter  Franklin  house,1  which  had  been  selected  by  the 
committee  for  his  temporary  residence.  In  the  after 
noon  there  was  a  dinner  at  Governor  Clinton's  and  in 
the  evening,  despite  the  rain,  a  general  illumination  of 
the  city. 

During  the  week  in  which  Washington  recovered 
from  the  fatigues  of  the  journey,  with  no  ceremonies 
save  being  waited  upon  by  the  Senate,  the  House  of 
Representatives,  and  the  Chamber  of  Commerce,  the 
finishing  touches  were  put  on  Federal  Hall,  and  the  city 
became  so  filled  with  strangers  that  both  public  and 
private  accommodations  were  exhausted,  and  tents  were 
erected  on  the  Bowling  Green. 

Thursday,  the  3Oth  day  of  April,  was  fair,  and  the 
services  held  in  the  different  churches  at  nine  o'clock 
were  well  attended.  About  noon,  a  procession  was 
formed  composed  of  a  troop  of  horse,  artillery,  grena 
diers,  German  grenadiers,  the  infantry  of  the  brigade,  the 
sheriff,  the  committee  of  the  Senate,  the  President-elect 
and  suite,  the  committee  of  the  House,  General  Knox, 
Chancellor  Livingston,  of  the  state  of  New  York,  and  a 
multitude  of  citizens.  As  the  procession  neared  the  new 

1  This  house  stood  near  what  is  now  Franklin  square. 


196 


THE  MEN  WHO  MADE   THE  NATION 


Federal  Hall,  coming  from  the  Franklin  house,  the  mili 
tary  companies  opened  ranks  and  allowed  Washington 
and  the  civic  contingent  to  pass  into  the  building  and  up 
stairs  into  the  Senate  Chamber,  where  he  was  formally 
presented  to  both  houses  of  Congress.  Immediately 
afterward,  accompanied  by  the  committees,  he  stepped 
out  into  the  little  balcony  overlooking  the  street  below. 


FEDERAL  HALL,  NEW  YORK  CITY  1 

Chancellor  Livingston  administered  to  him  the  simple 
oath  prescribed  in  the  Constitution,  while  Secretary 
Charles  Otis,  of  the  Senate,  held  a  Bible  on  a  red  plush 
cushion.  It  had  been  rather  hastily  brought  from  a 
Masonic  lodge  near  by.  As  Washington  raised  the 
book  to  his  lips,  the  chancellor  waved  his  hand  to  the 

1  From  an  engraving  in  the  New  York  Historical  Society's  rooms. 


GEORGE   WASHINGTON  197 

multitude  below  and  cried,  "  Long  live  George  Washing 
ton,  President  of  these  United  States."  To  the  repeated 
shouts,  the  President  bowed,  while  the  artillery  made 
the  building  reecho  with  its  salute. 

Retiring  within  the  Senate  chamber,  the  President 
read  his  inaugural  address,  which  would  constitute 
about  a  column  in  a  modern  newspaper.  It  declared  a 
conviction  of  his  lack  of  qualification  for  the  high  office, 
but  promised  his  best  efforts  and  begged  for  cooperation 
and  harmony.  One  of  the  senators  in  a  critical  way 
wrote  in  his  journal :  "  The  great  man  was  agitated 
and  embarrassed  more  than  ever  he  was  by  the  levelled 
cannon  or  pointed  musket.  He  trembled  and  several 
times  could  scarce  make  out  to  read,  though  it  must  be 
supposed  he  had  often  read  it  before.  .  .  .  He  was 
dressed  in  deep  brown,  with  metal  buttons,  with  an 
eagle  on  them,  white  stockings,  a  bag,  and  sword."  * 

Since  Trinity  had  not  yet  been  rebuilt  after  the  "  great 
fire  "  of  1776,  the  entire  official  body  next  marched  out 
to  St.  Paul's  Chapel,  where  service  was  performed  by 
Bishop  Provost.  The  President  was  then  escorted  to 
the  Franklin  house.  In  the  evening,  the  streets  were  so 
crowded  with  citizens  to  see  the  fireworks  and  trans 
parent  paintings  at  the  Battery  that  the  presidential 
party  was  obliged  to  abandon  the  carriages,  which 
brought  it  down  town,  and  to  walk  home  on  foot.  The 
inauguration  ceremonies  were  now  closed,  and  the  Pres 
ident  was  free  to  adjust  his  time  to  his  public  and  his 
private  life  and  to  take  up  matters  of  state  with  Con 
gress.  In  the  absence  of  all  precedent  it  is  remarkable 

1  William  Maclay's  "  Journal "  has  been  printed  several  times.  He  was 
from  Pennsylvania,  and  later  became  opposed  to  the  administration. 


198         THE  MEN"  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION" 

that  the  complicated  machinery  of  the  new  government 
should  be  started  with  so  little  friction. 

The  adjustment  of  minor  matters  caused  more  annoy 
ance  than  weighty  affairs.  Following  English  example, 
the  Senate  was  referred  to  as  the  "  upper  house,"1  and 
since  it  sustained  an  advisory  relation  with  the  Presi 
dent  in  treaties  and  appointments,  it  assumed  an  air 
of  superiority.  It  excluded  visitors  from  its  debates, 
refused  to  publish  its  proceedings,  and  ordered  the 
House  when  it  had  passed  a  measure  to  send  it  up  by  its 
chief  clerk  with  numerous  obeisances.  The  more  dem 
ocratic  House  declared  that  if  its  chief  clerk  were 
required  to  take  a  measure  to  the  Senate,  then  no  meas 
ure  would  be  received  from  that  body  save  at  the  hand 
of  its  secretary.  While  this  very  momentous  question 
was  under  discussion,  a  bill  passed  one  branch  and 
was  sent  to  the  other  by  a  messenger,  thus  establishing 
a  custom  which  has  held  to  this  day.  The  first  measure 
to  pass  both  houses  and  to  become  a  law  by  the  Presi 
dent's  signature  determined  the  form  of  oath  which  each 
officer  of  the  government  was  required  by  the  Constitu 
tion  to  take.  It  passed  almost  two  months  after  Con 
gress  began. 

There  had  been  a  president  or  chairman  of  the  old 
Continental  Congress ;  there  never  had  been  a  Presi 
dent  of  the  United  States.  What  title  could  be  invented 
worthy  of  the  dignity  of  his  position  and  yet  consistent 
with  a  free  government  ?  At  one  time  the  Senate  had 
practically  decided  upon  "  His  High  Mightiness  the 

1  Since  the  Senate  occupied  a  room  in  the  second  story  of  the  tem 
porary  capitol,  both  in  New  York  and  Philadelphia,  some  wag  has  sug 
gested  this  fact  as  a  derivation  of  the  term  "  upper  house." 


GEORGE   WASHINGTON"  199 

President  of  these  United  States  and  the  Protector  of  its 
Liberties  "  ;  but  while  the  debates  were  going  on,  the 
President  arrived  and  was  addressed  as  "  Mr.  President," 
and  thus  the  matter  was  settled.1 

Madison  introduced  a  bill  to  put  a  tax  on  foreign 
goods  coming  into  the  country,  such  as  wines,  tea, 
coffee,  and  sugar,  by  which  some  money  would  be  put 
into  the  needy  treasury.  He  preferred  this  as  a  more 
indirect  tax  than  an  excise  which  Congress  could  also 
levy.  The  manufacturers  of  Baltimore  had  already 
sent  in  a  list  of  various  articles  made  in  that  city  with  an 
appeal  for  "  that  relief  which,  in  your  wisdom,  may 
appear  proper."  Private  interests  were  thus  early  at  the 
door  clamoring  for  legislation.  The  merchants  and 
manufacturers  of  New  York  followed  with  a  similar 
petition.  Then  came  the  shipbuilders  of  Philadelphia 
asking  a  discriminating  tonnage  for  home-built  vessels. 
The  blacksmiths,  tailors,  and  other  workmen  of  Boston 
petitioned  for  the  free  entry  of  raw  materials  and  the 
protection  of  home  manufacture  by  such  an  impost  as 
would  exclude  importations  of  these  goods.2  The  mem 
bers  rapidly  took  sides  with  the  interests  they  repre 
sented  and  soon  both  houses  were  engaged  in  contests 
over  duties  on  fish,  hemp,  salt,  iron,  nails,  paper,  coal,  etc. 
So  rapidly  did  this  revenue  measure  assume  a  protec- 

1  This  apparently  important  question  caused  much  discussion  in   the 
newspapers.     One  stanza  ran : 

"  Fame  stretched  her  wings  and  with  the  trumpet  blew, 
'Great  Washington  is  near;   what  praise  is  due? 
What  title  shall  he  have?'     She  paused,  and  said : 
'  Not  one.     His  name  alone  strikes  every  title  dead.'  " 

2  These    petitions   may   be   found    in    the  "  American    State    Papers, 
Finance,"  Vol.  I. 


200         THE  MEN-  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION" 

tive  aspect  that  the  title  of  the  completed  bill  reads, 
"  An  act  for  the  encouragement  and  protection  of  man 
ufactures."  In  addition  to  this  revenue  measure,  this 
extra  session  of  the  new  Congress  passed  laws  estab 
lishing  the  Departments  of  State,  War,  and  Treasury, 
organized  the  revenue  service,  and  proposed  twelve 
amendments  to  the  Constitution,  ten  of  which  were 
eventually  ratified  by  the  required  three-fourths  of  the 
states.  It  was  six  months  in  session  and  passed  twenty- 
seven  acts  and  five  joint  resolutions. 

The  President  took  no  part  in  the  initiation  of  these 
legislative  measures.  He  rode  down  frequently  to  the 
Federal  Hall,  being  announced  by  the  doorkeeper 
when  he  appeared  at  either  house,  and  sitting  in  the 
seat  of  the  presiding  officer  temporarily  vacated  for 
him.  The  relation  of  the  executive  to  the  legislative 
branch  of  the  government  was  being  determined  day 
by  day.  One  day  the  President  appeared  in  the  Senate 
with  Knox,  Secretary  of  War,  to  talk  over  an  Indian 
treaty,  but  the  whole  matter  was  referred  to  a  com 
mittee.  The  President  started  up  and  exclaimed,  "This 
defeats  every  purpose  of  my  coming  here,"  and  soon 
after  withdrew.  The  relations  of  the  two  branches 
were  not  to  be  patterned  after  Great  Britain. 

Precedents  were  forming  for  the  social  as  well  as  the 
official  life  of  the  new  chief  magistrate.  Tuesday  after 
noon  of  each  week,  from  three  to  four  o'clock,  calls  of 
courtesy  would  be  received,  and  on  Friday  evenings  a 
kind  of  social  levee  would  be  held.  On  Thursdays 
state  dinners  were  to  be  given.  The  President,  it  was 
understood,  was  not  bound  to  return  calls.  With  these 
stated  functions  and  the  special  occasions,  the  first  days 


GEORGE   WASHINGTON"  2OI 

of  the  President  in  New  York  were  busy  ones.  He 
attended  the  commencement  exercises  of  Columbia  Col 
lege  ;  the  ball  of  the  Dancing  Assembly,  where  he 
danced  with  several  ladies ;  the  theatre,  where  he  saw 
the  "School  for  Scandal"  and  a  farce  called  "  Old 
Soldier."  Soon  after,  the  French  minister  gave  a  ball 
at  which  the  men  in  one  set  of  cotillon  dancers  were 
dressed  in  the  French  uniform  and  those  in  another  in 
the  old  continental  blue  and  buff.  The  ladies  wore 
ribbons  of  corresponding  colors.  An  elaborate  system 
of  visits  and  addresses  was  carried  on  with  each  house 
of  Congress.  The  new  minister  from  the  Netherlands 
presented  his  credentials. 

After  one  month  of  this  routine,  Washington  set  off 
one  Wednesday  morning  in  a  barge  for  Elizabethtown 
to  meet  Mrs.  Washington.  On  her  journey,  she  had 
lodged  in  Philadelphia  with  Mrs.  Robert  Morris  and 
was  now  accompanied  by  that  lady,  whose  husband  was 
in  New  York  as  a  senator  from  Pennsylvania.  At 
Elizabethtown,  the  united  company  embarked  on  a 
barge,  as  Washington  had  done  a  month  before,  and 
was  rowed  by  thirteen  pilots  in  white  uniforms  across 
the  bay  to  Peck's  slip,  where  a  crowd  of  people  awaited 
a  view  of  "  Lady  Washington."  She  was  soon  at  home 
in  the  Franklin  house.  According  to  the  newspapers, 
"  the  principal  ladies  of  the  city  have,  with  the  earliest 
attention  and  respect,  paid  their  devoirs  to  the  amiable 
consort  of  our  beloved  President,  viz.  the  Lady  of  His 
Excellency  the  Governor,  Lady  Sterling,  Lady  Mary 
Watts,  Lady  Kitty  Dner,  La  Marchioness  de  Brehan, 
the  Ladies  of  the  Most  Hon.  Mr.  Langdon,  and  the 
Most  Hon.  Mr.  Dalton,  the  Mayoress,  Mrs.  Livingston 


202          THE  MEN  WHO  MADE   THE  NATION 

of  Clermont,  Mrs.  Chancellor  Livingston,  the  Miss  Liv 
ingstons,  Lady  Temple,  Madam  de  la  Forest,  Mrs.  Mont 
gomery,  Mrs.  Knox,  Mrs.  Thompson,  Mrs.  Gerry,  Mrs. 
Edgar,  Mrs.  M'Comb,  Mrs.  Lynch,  Mrs.  Houston,  Mrs. 
Griffin,  Mrs.  Provost,  the  Miss  Bayards,  and  a  great 
number  of  other  respectable  characters."  l 

In  a  few  days  a  dinner  was  given  en  famille  to  a  few 
prominent  officials,  when  a  boiled  leg  of  mutton  was 
served  according  to  Washington's  custom  of  having  but 
one  dish.  A  glass  of  wine  followed.  On  these  occa 
sions  the  silver  service  was  massive,  being  valued  at 
thirty  thousand  dollars,  but  the  menu  was  very  simple. 
On  a  great  occasion  it  included  soup,  fish  roasted  and 
boiled,  meats,  gammon,  fowls,  etc.  For  dessert,  "apple- 
pies,  puddings,  etc.;  then  iced  creams,  jellies,  etc.;  then 
water-melon,  musk-melons,  apples,  peaches,  nuts."  The 
middle  of  the  table  was  garnished  with  small  images 
and  artificial  flowers.  On  such  occasions  there  was  a 
heavy  solemnity.  After  the  cloth  had  been  removed, 
the  President  filled  his  glass  and  drank  the  health  by 
name  of  each  one  present.  All  imitated  him.  Then 
the  ladies  withdrew,  and  the  men  attempted  some  con 
versation.  At  one  time  the  President  kept  a  nut-pick 
when  the  cloth  was  taken  away,  but  used  it  to  drum  on 
the  edge  of  the  table.  Soon  all  went  upstairs  to  drink 
coffee.  Becoming  President  could  not  make  a  social 
star  out  of  the  reserved  Washington. 

As  rapidly  as  Congress  created  the  executive  depart 
ments,  the  President  called  to  their  heads  the  most  able 
men.  Hamilton,  his  former  aide,  became  the  Secretary 

1  In  the  growth  of  democracy  in  America,  we  have  sloughed  off  much 
of  this  class  tendency  inherited  from  the  old  world. 


GEORGE   WASHINGTON  203 

of  the  Treasury ;  Knox,  who  had  been  Secretary  of 
War  under  the  Articles  of  Confederation,  was  continued 
in  that  office.  Randolph,  of  Virginia,  was  made  Attor 
ney-general,  and  Osgood,  of  Massachusetts,  Postmaster- 
general,  although  the  latter  office  was  not  considered  of 
cabinet  rank  for  several  years  to  come.  Jay  continued  as 
Secretary  of  Foreign  Affairs,  until  the  following  March, 
when  Jefferson,  recently  returned  from  three  years'  ser 
vice  as  minister  to  France,  became  the  Secretary  of  State, 
as  the  department  was  thenceforth  called.  Jay,  who  had 
been  given  a  choice  of  any  office  by  the  President,  asked 
to  be  made  head  of  the  Supreme  Court  when  that  body 
should  be  created. 

After  consulting  his  cabinet  upon  the  propriety  of 
making  a  journey  into  New  England,  "for  the  purpose 
of  acquiring  a  knowledge  of  the  country  and  determin 
ing  the  temper  and  disposition  of  the  inhabitants  toward 
the  new  government,"  the  President  set  out  about  the 
middle  of  October,  Hamilton,  Knox,  and  Jay  accom 
panying  him  a  few  miles  out  of  the  city.  His  party  was 
composed  of  himself,  one  aide,  Colonel  Jackson,  and 
Secretary  Lear,  together  with  six  servants.  He  passed 
through  various  cities  to  Hartford,  being  received  with 
many  honors  on  the  way.  Thence  he  went  by  Worces 
ter  to  Cambridge,  where  he  was  met  by  the  militia,  given 
a  salute  from  two  land  batteries  and  from  the  French 
squadron  in  the  harbor,  while  the  bells  of  Boston  were 
rung.  As  he  entered  that  city  with  Lieutenant-Gov- 
ernor  Samuel  Adams,  he  found  the  workingmen  drawn 
up  under  appropriate  banners  to  welcome  him.  In  front 
of  the  State  House  was  an  arch  across  the  street  bear 
ing  the  inscription  "  To  the  Man  who  unites  all  hearts  " 


204          THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

and  "  To  Columbia's  favorite  son."  Side  panels  com 
memorated  the  relief  of  Boston  by  Washington  in  1776. 
Entering  the  State  House  and  appearing  upon  a  balcony 
supported  by  thirteen  pillars,  the  President  was  greeted 
by  a  vast  concourse  of  people  in  the  street  below.  An 
ode  was  sung  by  a  choir  stationed  on  the  arch,  and  the 
trades  procession  passed  in  review.1 

John  Hancock,  governor  of  Massachusetts,  had  sent 
forward  a  messenger  requesting  Washington  to  dine 
with  him,  but  now  sent  word  that  he  was  too  ill  to  call 
on  the  guest.  Washington  was  resolved  to  stand  strictly 
on  his  dignity  as  President  and  therefore  dined  at  his 
lodgings  at  the  "Widow  Ingersoll's,  which  is  a  very 
decent  and  good  house."  The  following  day  being  Sun 
day,  the  President,  according  to  his  custom  on  this  jour 
ney,  attended  the  Episcopal  church  in  the  morning  and 
the  Congregational  church  in  the  afternoon.  Between 
the  two  meetings,  Governor  Hancock  appeared  with  the 
statement  that  "he  was  still  indisposed;  but  as  it  had 
been  suggested  that  he  expected  to  receive  the  visit  from 
the  President  which  he  knew  was  improper,  he  had  re 
solved  at  all  haz'ds  to  pay  his  Compliments  to-day."  So 
ended  probably  the  first  contest  between  state  rights 
and  the  federal  Union. 

Four  days  were  spent  in  Boston  in  receiving  and  reply 
ing  to  addresses,  visiting  the  French  fleet,  and  in  dining 
and  receiving  the  public.  The  President  next  went 
through  Salem  and  Newburyport  to  Portsmouth,  New 
Hampshire.  He  was  surprised  at  the  different  recep 
tions  to  see  so  many  ladies  with  black  hair,  "  in  greater 

1  The  illustration  on  the  opposite  page  of  the  arch  in  front  of  the  State 
House  is  taken  from  the  Massachusetts  Magazine,  January,  1790. 


206          THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

proportion  and  blacker  than  are  usually  seen  in  the 
Southern  states."  In  Portsmouth  harbor  he  fished  for 
cod  and  caught  two.  Turning  back  at  Portsmouth,  he 
visited  Lexington  battlefield,  skirted  Boston,  and  hurried 
through  Connecticut,  being  welcomed  at  New  York  with 
a  federal  salute  after  an  absence  of  four  weeks.  He  had 
studiously  avoided  entering  the  state  of  Rhode  Island 
because  it  had  not  yet  come  into  the  Union  by  ratifying 
the  Constitution.  When  that  action  was  taken  the  fol 
lowing  summer,  the  President  made  a  special  tour  of  the 
state.1 

The  six  weeks  ensuing  before  the  first  of  January 
were  spent  in  receptions,  attending  the  theatre  and  danc 
ing  assemblies,  sitting  to  painters  and  sculptors,  and  in 
routine  executive  business.  The  chief  event  was  the 
first  public  Thanksgiving  Day  by  order  of  the  President's 
proclamation,  at  the  request  of  Congress  made  before 
adjournment.  The  last  Thursday  in  November  was  se 
lected,  and  the  President  attended  services  at  St.  Paul's, 
although  the  weather  was  stormy  and  the  congregation 
small.  New  Year's  Day  brought  a  large  official  recep 
tion  at  the  President's  house.  A  week  later  the  first 
regular  session  of  the  first  Congress  opened  with  a  visit 
from  the  President.  He  rode  down  to  the  Federal  Hall 
in  his  coach,  preceded  by  Humphreys  and  Jackson  of 
his  staff  upon  white  horses  and  in  full  uniform,  and  fol 
lowed  by  Secretaries  Lear  and  Nelson  in  a  chariot,  and 
the  members  of  his  cabinet  each  in  a  carriage.  There 
was  a  long  ceremony  of  bowing  and  making  addresses 

1  No  coercion  was  used  toward  Rhode  Island,  but  it  was  understood  that 
the  relief  from  tonnage  duties,  which  had  been  granted  vessels  of  that  state 
by  Congress,  would  not  be  continued  much  longer. 


GEORGE   WASHINGTON-  207 

and  replies.  In  the  evening  the  President  received  at 
home,  clad  in  a  new  suit,  the  cloth  and  buttons  for  which 
he  had  ordered  at  Hartford  on  his  eastern  journey.  Mem 
ories  of  the  Revolutionary  "  associations  "  had  not  en 
tirely  passed  away.  In  February,  the  President's  family 
left  the  Franklin  house  and  occupied  the  Macomb  house 
on  Broadway  below  Trinity,  much  nearer  to  the  Federal 
Hall.  This  was  leased  for  one  year.  In  March,  the  re 
built  Trinity  was  ready  for  consecration.  Washington 
and  his  family  attended,  sitting  in  the  Presidential  pew, 
which  was  richly  ornamented  and  covered  with  a  canopy. 

By  the  middle  of  August,  Congress  was  ready  to 
adjourn,  after  a  busy  and  profitable  session.  It  had 
listened  to  the  reports  on  the  finances  which  it  had 
ordered  Secretary  Hamilton  to  prepare,  and  had  adopted 
his  suggestion  that  all  the  debts  of  the  states  and  of  the 
Union  be  assumed  and  paid  by  the  United  States.  In 
order  to  get  the  debts  of  the  states  included,  Hamilton 
had  made  a  bargain  with  Jefferson  that  the  national 
capital  should  be  located  eventually  on  the  banks  of 
the  Potomac,  where  every  Virginian  had  long  hoped  it 
would  be.  The  votes  of  the  Pennsylvania  members  were 
necessary  to  get  this  agreement  through  Congress,  and 
the  leaders  had  to  allow  the  capital  to  stop  ten  years  in 
Philadelphia  on  its  road  south.  This  satisfied  the  lodg 
ing-house  keepers  of  that  city  and  gave  them  some 
chance  of  keeping  the  capital  permanently.1 

The  New  York  people,  who  had  spent  so  much  money 
on  the  Federal  Hall  and  had  begun  a  fine  President's 

1  This  struggle  for  the  seat  of  government  had  continued  for  many 
years,  and  resembled  closely  a  fight  for  spoils.  Philadelphia,  Harrisburg, 
Morristown,  and  Annapolis  were  considered  at  different  times. 


208          THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

mansion,  protested  vigorously ;  but  they  had  to  abide 
by  the  decision,  and  prepared  to  bid  farewell  to  the 
departing  President,  who  would  return  to  Philadelphia 
instead  of  New  York  for  the  next  session.  It  was 
many  years  before  the  growing  interests  of  the  country 
demanded  the  permanent  residence  of  the  President  at 
the  seat  of  government  between  sessions  of  Congress. 

According  to  the  newspapers,  Washington  "  took 
opportunity  to  express  his  great  reluctance  at  leaving 
the  city  and  those  who  had  taken  so  much  pains  to  treat 
him,  not  only  with  dignified  respect,  but  with  reverence 
and  esteem,  as  the  Father  and  Patron  of  the  United 
States.  Mrs.  Washington  also  seemed  hurt  at  the  idea 
of  bidding  adieu  to  these  hospitable  shores."  A  proces 
sion  composed  of  Governor  Clinton  and  staff,  the  cabi 
net,  Chief  Justice  Jay,  the  city  corporation,  clergy  and 
citizens,  escorted  the  President  and  Mrs.  Washington  to 
the  wharf,  where  the  lines  opened  and  the  distinguished 
couple  passed  through  to  a  barge,  rowed  by  thirteen 
men  in  white  jackets  and  black  caps,  which  soon  landed 
them  at  Powles  Hook  (now  Jersey  City).  The  party 
also  included  the  two  grandchildren  of  Mrs.  Washington, 
Major  Jackson,  Secretary  Nelson,  two  maids,  four  white 
and  four  black  servants,  and  sixteen  horses.  They 
remained  four  days  in  Philadelphia,  Mrs.  Washington 
being  indisposed.  The  President  dined  with  several 
companies  and  attended  a  Fete  Champetre  and  banquet 
at  Gray's  pleasure  gardens  on  the  Schuylkill.  At  Balti 
more  another  reception  awaited  them,  and  at  George 
town  the  Potomac  company  was  assembled  to  consult 
with  Washington  about  their  work.  The  entire  journey 
had  been  made  in  twelve  days. 


GEORGE   WASHINGTON 


209 


Before  the  last  of  November,  Washington  was  back 
in  Philadelphia  to  attend  the  second  session  of  the  first 
Congress.  The  city,  not  to  be  outdone  by  New  York, 
had  provided  him  a  large  double  house  on  Market  street, 
owned  by  Robert 
Morris.1  Every 
Tuesday  afternoon, 
a  reception  was 
held  in  the  dining 
room,  from  which 
the  chairs  were  re 
moved.  The  Presi 
dent  was 


THE  PRESIDENT'S  HOUSE,  PHILADELPHIA 


"clad  in  black  vel 
vet  ;  his  hair  in  full 
dress,  powdered  and 
gathered  behind  in  a  large  silk  bag;  yellow  gloves  on  his 
hands ;  holding  a  cocked  hat  with  a  cockade  in  it,  and  the 
edges  adorned  with  a  black  feather  about  an  inch  deep.  He 
wore  knee  and  shoe  buckles  ;  and  a  long  sword  with  a  wrought 
and  polished  steel  hilt,  which  appeared  at  his  left  hip ;  the 
coat  worn  over  the  sword,  so  that  the  hilt,  and  the  part  below 
the  coat  behind,  were  in  view.  The  scabbard  was  of  white 
polished  leather.  He  stood  always  in  front  of  the  fireplace 
with  his  face  towards  the  door  of  entrance.  .  .  .  He  received 
his  visitors  with  a  dignified  bow,  while  his  hands  were  so  dis 
posed  of  as  to  indicate  that  the  salutation  was  not  to  be  accom 
panied  with  shaking  hands.  This  ceremony  never  occurred  in 

1  Philadelphia  also  began  the  erection  of  a  permanent  residence  for 
the  President  with  the  hope  of  retaining  the  seat  of  government.  The 
building,  a  cut  of  which  is  shown  above,  was  never  occupied  by  Wash 
ington,  since  the  furnishing  would  probably  be  at  his  expense.  It  was 
afterward  used  by  the  University  of  Pennsylvania. 
P 


210         THE  MEN"  WHO  MADE   THE  NATION 

these  visits,  even  with  his  most  near  friends,  that  no  distinc 
tions  might  be  made."  1 

The  doors  were  opened  at  three  and  were  closed  fif 
teen  minutes  later.  The  President  then  made  a  tour 
of  the  room,  speaking  personally  to  every  guest.  Return 
ing  to  his  place,  he  was  bidden  adieu  by  each  one,  and 
the  function  was  ended.  The  alarm  of  those  who  feared 
a  monarchy  was  much  increased  by  these  receptions.  A 
senator  pronounced  them  "a  feature  of  royalty,  certainly 
anti-republican.  This  certainly  escapes  nobody.  The 
royalists  glory  in  it  as  a  point  gained.  The  republicans 
are  borne  down  by  fashion  and  a  fear  of  being  charged 
with  a  want  of  respect  to  General  Washington.  If  there 
is  treason  in  the  wish,  I  retract  it,  but  would  to  God  this 
same  Washington  were  in  heaven  !  "  2  Thornton,  later 
secretary  of  the  British  legation,  described  the  President 
as  affecting  state  and  not  a  little  flattered  because  the 
British  minister  always  wore  full  dress  in  calling  upon 
him.  He  also  noted  that  he  travelled  in  a  "  kingly " 
style.  "  On  his  last  journey  he  foundered  five  horses,  and 
I  am  informed  that  his  secretaries  are  not  admitted  into 
his  carriage,  but  stand  with  their  horse's  bridles  in  their 
hands  till  he  is  seated,  and  then  mount  and  ride  before 
his  carriage."  Another  English  visitor  wrote  home  that 
"  he  has  very  few  who  are  on  terms  of  intimate  and 
unreserved  friendship  ;  and  what  is  worse  he  is  less 
beloved  in  his  own  State  (Virginia)  than  in  any  part  of 
the  United  States." 

In  truth,  political  parties  were  beginning  to  arise  along 
this  cleavage  of  the  old  aristocracy  and  the  new  democ- 

1  From  Sullivan's  "Public  Men  of  the  Revolution,"  page  120. 

2  Maclay,  of  Pennsylvania,  in  his  "Journal." 


GEORGE   WASHINGTON"  211 

racy.  The  country  was  too  new  to  institute  issues, 
and  therefore  reflected  the  old-world  struggle  between 
aristocratic  England  and  the  new  democratic  France. 
Washington's  descent  from  a  Yorkshire  great  grand 
father,  his  environment  as  one  of  the  wealthiest  men  in 
the  United  States,  and  his  naturally  reserved  tempera 
ment  would  have  arrayed  him  on  the  side  of  England, 
even  if  Hamilton,  born  in  the  British  West  Indies  and 
a  cool  calculator  of  men,  had  not  urged  that  side  upon 
him.  On  the  contrary,  Jefferson,  of  Welsh  descent,  never 
financially  prosperous,  a  philosopher  who  believed  in  the 
innate  goodness  of  man  and  had  hopes  for  his  future, 
would  have  been  on  the  side  of  France  even  if  he  had 
not  caught  the  fever  of  the  Revolution  while  serving  as 
minister  to  that  country.  Thus  political  parties,  bound 
to  arise  among  thinking  men,  found  leaders  in  the  Presi 
dent's  cabinet,  through  the  antipodal  natures  of  two  men. 
Washington,  unwilling  to  engage  the  young  re 
public  in  another  war,  issued  a  proclamation  of  neu 
trality  between  the  warring  England  and  France,  and 
the  storm  broke  forth.  He  was  accused  of  ingratitude 
to  the  country  which  had  aided  America  in  the  Revolu 
tionary  struggle  ;  of  yielding  to  the  influence  of  the 
British  monarchy;  of  assuming  by  royal  edict  the 
power  of  declaring  war  or  peace  which  belonged  to 
Congress.  He  restrained  his  Virginia  temper  under 
these  vicious  attacks  from  the  French  sympathizing 
papers  of  Philadelphia,  but  to  Henry  Lee  he  wrote : 
"  For  the  result,  as  it  respects  myself,  I  care  not ;  for  I 
have  a  consolation  within  no  earthly  efforts  can  deprive 
me  of,  and  that  is  that  neither  ambitious  nor  interested 
motives  have  influenced  my  conduct.  The  arrows  of 


212          THE  MEN  WHO  MADE   THE  NATION 

malevolence,  therefore,  however  barbed  and  well-pointed, 
can  never  reach  the  most  vulnerable  part  of  me  ;  though, 
whilst  I  am  up  as  a  mark,  they  will  be  continually 
aimed." 

It  was  too  late  to  think  of  withdrawing,  for,  yielding 
to  the  manifestations  of  approval  of  the  people  in  a 
southern  trip  which  extended  as  far  as  Georgia,  and 
supported  by  the  unanimous  opinion  of  his  cabinet, 
Washington  had  accepted  a  second  term  and  had  again 
received  every  electoral  vote.  His  enforced  restraint 
of  the  French  minister  to  America,  "Citizen"  Genet, 
brought  out  a  scurrilous  broadside  called  the  funeral  of 
King  Washington,  where  the  President  was  pictured  on 
a  guillotine.  Jefferson  said  that  at  a  subsequent  cabinet 
meeting  where  this  cartoon  was  very  injudiciously  intro 
duced  by  the  Secretary  of  War,  the  President  got  into  a 
passion  and  declared  "  that  he  had  never  repented  but 
once  having  taken  a  second  term  and  that  was  every 
moment  since  ;  that  he  had  rather  be  in  his  grave  than 
in  his  present  position  ;  that  he  had  rather  be  on  his 
farm  than  to  made  Emperor  of  the  zvorld ;  and  yet  they 
were  charging  him  with  wanting  to  be  a  King." 

In  1795  Jay,  who  had  been  appointed  special  envoy 
to  England,  brought  back  a  treaty  with  that 'country, 
which  furnished  to  the  French  sympathizers  a  further 
proof  of  what  they  called  the  English  bias  of  the  aristo 
cratic  President.  They  declared  that  he  had  been  cap 
tured  by  British  gold ;  that  he  was  a  hired  employee  of 
the  king  of  England ;  and  pictured  the  oblivion  which 
awaited  him  and  his  confidential  adviser,  Hamilton. 
"  Along  with  the  awful  sentence  of  execration  which 
awaits  that  ambitious  Catiline,  who  has  been  the  princi- 


GEORGE   WASHINGTON 


213 


pal  adviser  and  chief  promoter  of  all  your  measures,  the 
name  of  Washington  will  descend  with  him  to  oblivion." 
"  Stript  of  the  mantle  of  infallibility  .  .  .  you  will  ap 
pear  before  them  a  frail  mortal,  whose  passions  and 
weaknesses  are  like  those  of  other  men.  Your  voice 
may  have  been  heard  when  it  called  to  virtue  and  glory, 
but  it  will  be  lost  in  the  tempest  of  popular  fury  when 
ever  it  shall  speak  the  language  of  lawless  ambition." 

When  the  President  was  at  the  capital,  Philadelphia, 
the  opposition  papers  compared  him  with  Caesar  Augus 
tus,  Cromwell,  George  III.,  Louis  XVI. ,  Lafayette,  the 
Duke  of  Richmond,  and  Lord  North ;  when  he  made  a 
temporary  visit  to  Mount  Vernon  they  sneered  that  "We, 
the  people,  are  now  on  a  tour  with  the  Constitution." 

Suspicion  attended  the  regular  celebration  of  the 
President's  birthday  by  artillery  salutes,  parades,  and 


\rr'A'  B/ttT/l  * 


calls,  with  a  ball  in  the  evening  by  the  Dancing  Assem 
bly.  Many  thought  the  ceremonials  attending  the  open 
ing  and  closing  of  sessions  of  Congress,  which  were 
borrowed  from  England,  too  aristocratic  for  a  republic. 


214          THE  MEtf  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

Others  criticised  the  President  for  attending  the  South- 
wark  theatre  or  Rickett's  circus,  especially  since  "  The 
President's  March  "  had  been  composed  to  be  played  on 
such  occasions,  and  the  audience  was  likely  to  applaud 
as  the  President  and  suite  entered  his  decorated  box. 

Much  of  the  President's  official  and  even  private  life 
was  borrowed  from  Europe  or  from  the  royal  colonial 
governors.  It  was  offensive  only  to  those  persons 
who  mistook  the  American  political  Revolution  for  a 
social  revolution.  There  was  never  any  attempt  to 
level  social  distinctions  nor  any  promise  to  secure  social 
happiness. 

As  the  days  went  quietly  by  and  the  people  returned 
to  public  order  and  a  proper  recognition  of  their  civic 
duties,  the  avenues  of  trade  were  opened,  commercial 
friction  ceased  under  national  control,  and  for  the  first 
time  Fortune  smiled  on  the  young  nation.  Its  first 
President  had  successfully  avoided  being  drawn  into  the 
foreign  wars  and  had  established  for  the  United  States 
that  unique  position  she  was  to  occupy  for  almost  one 
hundred  years  —  a  neutral  nation.  When  the  presiden 
tial  machinery  had  been  successfully  tried  a  third  time, 
it  quieted  the  voices  of  those  who  feared  a  return  to 
monarchy.  The  assured  success  of  the  new  Constitu 
tion  may  be  dated  from  this  time.  A  permanent  form 
of  Union  had  been  created ;  it  had  begun  through  its 
chief  representative  to  gain  the  affections  of  the  people ; 
it  had  yet  to  gain  sufficient  power  from  its  creators  and 
its  later  rivals  —  the  states. 

Nevertheless,  political  abuse  followed  Washington  to 
the  end  of  his  administration.  Having  clearly  demon 
strated  to  the  people  in  a  "  Farewell  Address "  his 


GEORGE   WASHINGTON-  21$ 

determination  to  retire,  and  satisfied  with  the  election  of 
Vice-President  John  Adams  as  his  successor,  he  received 
numerous  addresses  during  the  closing  days,  and  gave  a 
farewell  dinner  at  which  he  brought  tears  to  many  eyes 
by  drinking  for  the  last  time  as  a  public  man  the  health 
of  his  guests.  On  Saturday,  March  4,  1797,  he 
attended  the  hall  of  the  House  of  Representatives  on 
the  corner  of  Sixth  and  Chestnut  streets,  to  see  his  suc 
cessor  take  the  oath  of  office.  When  the  crowd  dis 
persed,  so  many  followed  the  ex-President  that  the  new 
President  seemed  by  contrast  to  walk  home  unattended. 

Some  who  thus  accompanied  him  may  have  wished 
to  rebuke  an  editorial  in  the  Philadelphia  Aurora  of 
that  day  beginning,  "  Lord,  now  lettest  thou  thy  ser 
vant  depart  in  peace  for  mine  eyes  have  seen  thy  salva 
tion."  It  suggested  the  appropriateness  of  this  text 
because  "  the  man  who  is  the  source  of  all  the  misfor 
tunes  of  our  country  is  this  day  reduced  to  a  level  with 
his  fellow-citizens."  "When  a  retrospect  is  taken  of 
the  WASHINGTON  administration  for  eight  years,  it  is  the 
subject  of  the  greatest  astonishment  that  a  single  indi 
vidual  should  have  cankered  the  principles  of  republi 
canism  in  an  enlightened  people  just  emerged  from  the 
gulph  of  despotism,  and  should  have  carried  his  designs 
against  the  public  safety  so  far,  as  to  put  in  jeopardy 
its  very  existence." 

In  the  New  York  Minerva,  Noah  Webster  insisted  that 
the  writer  of  that  article  could  not  pass  through  the 
eastern  states  without  at  least  one  coat  of  tar  and  feath 
ers  ;  and  one  impetuous  defender  of  the  President  pub 
licly  whipped  the  editor  for  printing  the  libel.  A  few 
weeks  later,  far  removed  from  such  abuse,  the  serene 


216 


THE  MEN   WHO  MADE   THE  NATION 


Washington  could  write  from  Mount  Vernon,  "  To  make 
and  sell  a  little  flour  annually,  to  repair  houses  (going 

fast  to  ruin),  to 

never   want    Biographers,    Eulogists    0 
Hiflorians. 

JOHN   ADAMS. 
United  States,  ) 
Dec.  2  2, 1799.  f 


WASHINGTON   ENTOMBED. 
George  Town,  Dec.  20. 

On  Wednesday-  laft,  the  mortal  part 
WASHINGTON  the  Great— the  Fathe. 
of  his  Country  and  the  Friend  of  man,  wf 
configned  to  the  tomb,  with  solemn  honor 
and  funeral  pomp. 

A  multitude  of  persons  affembled,  frorr,] 
many  miles  round,  at  Mount  Vernon,  tin 
choice  abode  and  laft  residence  of  the  jl« 
luftrious  chief.     There  were  the  groves—] 
the  spacious  avenues,  the  beautiful  ar 
sublime  scenes,  the  noble  manfion--'bi 
alas!  the  auguft  inhabitant  was  .now  i 
more.     That  great,  soul  .was  gone.    ,H'n 
mortal  part  was  there  indeed  j'but  ah!  h-)\\\ 


build  one  for 
the  security  of 
my  papers  of  a 
public  nature, 
and  to  amuse 
myself  in  agri- 
cult  u  r  a  1  arid 
rural  pursuits, 
will  constitute 
employment 
for  the  few 
years  I  have 
to  remain  on 
this  terrestial 
globe." 

In  writing 
these  lines, 
Washington  lit 


tle  thought  that 
two  years  more  would  bring  that  fatal  ride  in  the  cold 
rain,  the  sad  result  of  which  stirred  to  its  depths  the 
national  heart  which  he  had  done  so  much  to  create. 
Appropriate  exercises  were  held  in  the  chief  cities  and 
in  many  villages.  According  to  custom,  a  funeral  cor 
tege  passed  through  the  streets  in  Philadelphia1  and 
New  York,  although  the  remains  of  the  first  President 
were  laid  away  within  the  grounds  of  his  Mount  Vernon. 

1  The  illustration  of  the  funeral  procession  is  from  Janson's  "  Stranger  in 
America."   The  newspaper  clipping  is  from  the  Ulster  County,  N.Y.,  Gazette. 


CHAPTER  VII 

THOMAS  JEFFERSON,  THE  EXPONENT  OF  DEMOCRACY 

"They  [the  pieces  written  by  Hampden]  contain  the  true 
principles  of  the  revolution  of  1800,  for  that  was  as  real  a  revo 
lution  in  the  principles  of  our  government  as  that  of  1776  was 
in  its  form  ;  not  effected  indeed  by  the  sword  as  that,  but  by 
the  rational  and  peaceable  instrument  of  reform,  the  suffrage  of 
the  people." — JEFFERSON  TO  JUDGE  SPENCER  ROAN,  1819. 

IT  is  impossible  to  say  when  the  conviction  that  a 
conflict  must  ensue  between  the  state  and  general  gov 
ernments  first  became  fixed.  During  the  contest  be 
tween  the  large  and  the  small  states  in  the  Philadelphia 
Convention,  a  few  delegates  held  "private  meetings  to 
protect  and  preserve,  if  possible,  the  existence  and 
essential  rights  of  all  the  states  and  the  liberty  and 
freedom  of  their  citizens."  In  the  New  York  state 
convention,  Hamilton  pronounced  such  an  idea  chi 
merical,  but  Lansing  replied :  "  I  am,  however,  per 
suaded  that  an  hostility  will  exist  between  them.  This 
was  a  received  opinion  in  the  late  convention  at  Phila 
delphia."  In  the  Virginia  state  convention,  Patrick 
Henry  predicted  the  overthrow  of  state  supremacy  be 
cause  the  new  Constitution  destroyed  the  Confederacy. 
The  attorney-general  of  Massachusetts  found  a  danger 
ous  intention  in  "  the  consolidation  of  the  Union,"  as 
advocated  in  the  letter  of  the  Philadelphia  Convention, 

218 


THOMAS  JEFFERSON 


219 


which  accompanied  the 
finished  document  to  the 
Congress. 

Several  of  the  states,  in 
ratifying  the  Constitution, 
had  expressly  confined  the 
central  agency  to  the  pow 
ers  given  it  in  that  agree 
ment  and  had  reserved 
the  right  to  withdraw  from 
the  Union  if  the  central 
government  should  exceed 
that  authority.  How  ne 
cessity  gradually  made 
impossible  the  latter  pro 
vision  is  to  be  told  in  the 
later  pages.  The  former 
stipulation  was  impossible 
from  the  first.  The  grow 
ing  oak  cannot  be  bound 
by  bands  covering  it  from 
base  to  crown. 

Perhaps  the  first  depar 
ture  from  a  rigid  observ 
ance  of  the  powers  actually 
given  it,  was  when  the 
United  States  created  a 
bank  as  advocated  by 
Hamilton.  Search  as  one 
would,  the  word  "  bank  " 
did  not  appear  in  the  Con 
stitution.  Hence  the  sum- 


-m^ 


220          THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

ming  up  or  concluding  provision  "to  make  all  laws 
which  shall  be  necessary  and  proper  for  carrying  into 
execution  the  foregoing  powers  "  was  declared  elastic 
enough  to  cover  the  bank.  It  has  done  service  many 
times  since,  and  the  actions  under  it  sanctioned  as 
"  implied  "  powers  in  contradistinction  to  the  expressed 
powers. 

The  masses  were  not  interested  in  the  bank  question, 
but  a  subsequent  action  of  the  central  government 
affecting  citizenship  attracted  more  attention,  arrayed 
thinking  men,  and  clearly  defined  the  attitude  of  parties 
on  this  subject.  Certain  of  the  editors  who  attacked 
the' administration  as  described  in  the  preceding  chap 
ter  were  men  who  had  recently  come  from  foreign 
countries.1  Goaded  by  their  assaults,  the  Federalists  in 
1798  raised  the  period  of  residence  required  for  citizen 
ship  to  fourteen  years,  gave  power  to  President  Adams 
to  banish  dangerous  aliens,  and  provided  fine  and  im 
prisonment  for  any  one  writing  or  printing  "  any  false 
scandalous  and  malicious  writings  "  upon  the  govern 
ment  or  its  higher  officers.  The  Constitution  had  left 
the  question  of  citizenship  to  the  states.  Here  was 
plainly  an  infringement  on  their  rights.  Where  could 
an  agency  be  found  to  protect  the  citizens  of  the  states 
against  these  assaults  of  the  Union  ?  Later,  Jefferson 
said  :  "  The  leading  republicans 2  in  Congress  found 
themselves  of  no  use  there,  browbeaten  as  they  were  by 

1  Party  spirit,  just    arising,  produced  an  encounter  in   the   House   of 
Representatives,  an  old  cartoon  of  which  is  shown  herewith. 

2  Those  who  opposed  the  Federalist  or  aristocratic  centralizing  party 
were  called  Republicans  by  their  great  leader,  Jefferson.     He  objected  to 
using  the  word  "  Democratic,"  borrowed  from   the  Democratic  clubs  of 
France.     Some  modern  writers  call  the  party  the  Democratic-Republican. 


222          THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

a  bold  overwhelming  majority.  They  concluded  to  re 
tire  from  that  field,  take  a  stand  in  their  state  legisla 
tures,  and  endeavor  there  to  arrest  their  progress.  The 
Alien  and  Sedition  laws  furnished  the  particular  occa 
sion."  Securing  the  cooperation  of  Madison,  Jefferson  ar 
ranged  to  have  the  legislatures  of  Virginia  and  Kentucky 
protest  against  this  assumption  of  power  and  violation 
of  the  contract  between  the  states  and  the  Union.1 

Regardless  of  these  legislative  protests  and  of  the 
petitions  which  poured  into  the  ensuing  Congress  for 
the  repeal  of  these  acts,  the  Federalists  in  the  rage  for 
war  with  France  raised  the  regular  army  to  thirteen 
thousand  men2  and  prepared  further  to  develop  "the 
rising  navy  of  America."  It  was  planned  to  add  six 
frigates,  twelve  sloops,  and  six  small  vessels  to  the  Con 
stellation,  the  Constitution,  the  President,  and  the 
United  States,  and  to  raise  the  marine  corps  to  nine 
hundred.  President  Adams  was  authorized  to  buy 
private  vessels  or  those  built  by  subscriptions.  For 

1  Since  the  legislatures  of  the  states  voiced  the  sentiments  of  the  people, 
it  was  customary  for  them  to  send  memorials  to  Congress.      Jefferson 
framed  the  protest  adopted  by  Kentucky,  and  Madison  that  by  Virginia. 
They  declared  that  the  Union  was  a  compact  created  by  the  states  without 
a  central  judge,  and  each  party  must  be  its  own  judge;   that  in  the  Alien 
and  Sedition  acts  the  Union  had  surpassed  its  powers,  and  that  the  states 
were  in  duty  bound  to  interpose.     The  following  year  ( 1 799) ,  the  Kentucky 
legislature  went  much  farther,  and  declared  the  right  of  the  state  to  make 
null  and  void  any  unconstitutional  act  of  the  Union.     Only  a  few  states 
responded  to  these  appeals,  and  these  generally  unfavorably. 

2  Washington,  who  was  called  to  the  head  of  the  provisional  army, 
was  hailed  in  a  ballad  of  the  day : 

"  But  hark  !  the  invading  foe  alarms, 

Responsive  cannons  rattle; 

And  Washington  again  in  arms 

Directs  the  storm  of  battle." 


THOMAS  JEFFERSON-  22$ 

these  unusual  expenditures,  he  was  permitted  to  borrow 
five  million  dollars,  two  millions  of  which  were  to  be 
repaid  from  the  proceeds  of  a  direct  tax  levied  on  land, 
dwellings,  and  slaves. 

The  war  spirit  aroused  by  the  treatment  of  the 
American  envoys  in  France1  seemed  to  sustain  these 
expenditures.  "  Millions  for  defence,  not  one  cent  for 
tribute "  furnished  enough  sentiment ;  but  when  the 
practical  payment  of  the  taxes  began,  opposition  was 
manifest  among  the  common  people.  One  more  score 
was  laid  up  against  the  aristocrats  who  had  always  been 
opposed  to  France.  To  Jefferson  the  protests  of  the 
people  were  an  assurance  that  no  set  of  men  would  ever 
be  allowed  to  turn  the  government  under  the  Constitu 
tion  far  from  its  real  intent  without  incurring  their  dis 
pleasure  and  a  removal  from  power.  To  an  old  friend 
he  wrote:  "The  Spirit  of  1776  is  not  dead.  It  is  only 
slumbering.  The  body  of  the  American  people  is  sub 
stantially  republican."  2  He  tried  to  rally  public  senti 
ment  by  gentle  means.  He  sent  pamphlets  containing 
criticisms  on  the  Federalist  measures  to  his  friends  to 
distribute,  but  not  to  "sound  men."  "It  is  the  sick 
who  need  the  medicine,  and  not  the  well.  Do  not  let 
my  name  appear  in  the  matter."  He  was  Vice-President 
at  this  time.  The  lawyers  in  North  Carolina  he  called 

1  Marshall,    Pinckney,  and  Gerry  had  been  sent  over  to   adjust   the 
claims  of  the  United  States  merchants  because  of  French  depredations  on 
our  commerce,  and  to  secure  a  cessation  of  the  practice.     The  hints  they 
received  that  a  gift  must  precede  negotiations  were  made  public  when 
they  published  their  correspondence,  with  the  substitution  of  the  letters 
X,  Y,  and  Z  for  the  names  of  the  writers.     A  sudden  rage  against  France 
followed. 

2  The  quotations  from  Jefferson  in  this  chapter  are  taken  from  Ford's 
"Jefferson's  Works,"  in  ten  volumes. 


224          THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

"Tories."  Therefore,  "The  medicine  for  that  state 
must  be  mild  &  secretly  administered."  He  had 
prophesied,  "  If  we  can  keep  quiet,  therefore,  the  tide 
now  turning  will  take  a  steady  &  proper  direction." 
In  1799,  he  could  say  of  New  York,  "The  public 
opinion  in  this  state  is  rapidly  coming  round  "  and  "  a 
wonderful  and  rapid  change  is  taking  place  in  Penn 
sylvania,  Jersey,  &  N.  York.  Congress  is  daily  plied 
with  petitions  against  the  alien  &  sedition  laws  & 
standing  armies." 

As  the  election  of  1800  came  on,  and  the  Federalists 
pushed  through  their  final  place-making  scheme  of  form 
ing  a  set  of  circuit  courts,  Jefferson  wrote  to  a  corre 
spondent  that  perhaps  modesty  ought  to  forbid  him 
saying  anything  on  the  election  question ;  and  that  his 
private  gratifications  would  be  served  by  being  left  at 
home.  "  If  anything  supersedes  this  propensity,  it  is 
merely  the  desire  to  see  this  government  brought  back 
to  its  republican  principles."  When  a  sufficient  number 
of  electors  had  been  chosen  to  insure  the  defeat  of 
President  Adams  and  the  Federalists,  Jefferson  looked 
upon  it  not  as  a  personal  victory,  nor  yet  as  a  victory 
for  a  party,  but  as  the  revolt  of  the  people,  the  return  to 
first  principles,  and  the  rescue  of  the  country.  In  ask 
ing  Livingston  to  accept  a  cabinet  position,  he  said  : 
"  Come  forward  then,  my  dear  Sir,  and  give  us  the  aid 
of  your  talents  &  the  weight  of  your  character  towards 
the  new  establishment  of  republicanism  :  I  say  its  new 
establishment;  for  hitherto  we  have  only  seen  it's 
travestie." 

This  cabinet  making  received  a  rude  shock,  as  the 
completion  of  the  choice  of  electors  drew  near,  by  the 


THOMAS  JEFFERSON  22$ 

fear  that  there  would  be  no  election.  According  to 
the  Constitution,  each  elector  placed  two  names  upon 
his  ballot,  and  the  name  receiving  the  highest  number 
was  to  be  President  and  the  next  Vice-President. 
Seventy-three  electors  had  written  "  Thomas  Jefferson  " 
and  "  Aaron  Burr "  on  their  ballots.  Sixty-five  had 
written  "John  Adams"  and  sixty-four  of  these  had  also 
written  "  Charles  Pinckney."  Being  tied,  neither  Jeffer 
son  nor  Burr  was  elected  President.  The  framers  of  the 
Constitution,  although  perhaps  not  foreseeing  this  very 
contingency,  had  provided  for  a  possible  hitch  in  the 
electoral  machinery  by  sending  contested  elections  to 
the  House  of  Representatives  for  settlement.1  When 
some  of  the  Federalist  members, '  after  thirty-five  bal 
lots  cast  during  the  week,  came  over  and  voted  for 
Jefferson  against  Burr,  thus  making  him  President,  he 
saw  in  the  action  "  a  declaration  of  war  on  the  part  of 
this  band."  But  he  thought  the  patriotic  part  of  the 
Federalists  had  been  separated  from  their  quondam 
leaders  and  were  now  "in  a  state  of  mind  to  be  con 
solidated  with  us  if  no  intemperate  measures  on  our 
part  revolt  them  again."  "  If  we  can  once  more  get 
social  intercourse  restored  to  it's  pristine  harmony,  I 
shall  believe  we  have  not  lived  in  vain." 

Jefferson  was  right  in  believing  that  a  revolt  of  the 
people  against  ill-advised  legislation  had  placed  him  in 
the  presidential  chair.  It  was  the  first  political  revolu 
tion  ;  the  first  revolt  of  the  lower  social  orders  against 
the  upper  ;  of  the  governed  against  the  governing  class ; 
of  the  "plain  people"  against  the  "well-born."  It  is 
true  that  Jefferson  was  a  college-bred  man  and  a  large 

1  According  to  the  Constitution,  Art.  II.,  Sec.  I.,  3. 
Q 


226          THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 


SOLEMN  ADDRESS 


T   0 


CHRISTIANS  &  PATRIOTS, 


UPON  THE 


APPROACHING  ELECTION 


OF   A 


land-holder  ;  that  the  democracy  which  supported  him 
contained  many  of  the  aristocratic  tendency;  but  it 
was  as  nearly  a  democracy  as  the  limited  suffrage  and 

the  small  emi 
gration      from 
Europe   had 
made   possible 
up  to  that  time. 
However,   Jef 
ferson  was  mis 
led  in  thinking 
that  the  entire 
people  had  de 
serted    their 
leaders   and 
parties  were  at 
an     end.       In 
deed,  could  he 
have  journeyed 
into  New  Eng 
land,  the  home 
of  Federalism, 
he  would  have 
found    great 
alarm  over  his 
election. 

The    Feder 
alists1    had 


Prefident  of  the  United  States: 

IN  ANSWER  TO  A  PAMPHLET,  ENTITLED, 

«'  Serious  Ccnfidcrations?  &c; 


NEW-YORK  ; 

PRINTED  BY  DAVID   DENNISTON. 
1800. 


CAMPAIGN  DOCUMENT  OF  1800 


printed  pamphlet  after  pamphlet  before  the  election, 

1  One  of  these  pamphlets  bore  the  title,  "  Serious  Considerations  on  the 
Election  of  a  President."  Another,  "  The  Voice  of  Warning  to  Christians 
on  the  Ensuing  Election  of  a  President  of  the  United  States." 


THOMAS  JEFFERSON  22J 

pointing  out  that  in  his  writings  Jefferson  had  declared 
that  the  mountains  were  formed  first,  and  the  rivers  had 
then  burst  through  them ;  whereas,  the  Scriptures  said 
clearly  that  the  waters  had  been  gathered  in  one  place, 
and  the  dry  land  had  appeared.  They  also  quoted  his 
doubts  about  the  Deluge,  since  all  the  atmospheric 
waters  would  cover  the  earth  only  to  a  depth  of  fifty- 
two  feet,  and  his  saying  that  black  men  must  have 
always  been  black  and  could  not  have  been  created  in 
the  image  of  God.  He  also  had  cast  discredit  on  mis 
sionary  effort  by  saying  that  it  did  him  no  injury  for  his 
neighbor  to  say  there  are  twenty  gods  or  no  gods ;  that 
it  neither  broke  his  leg  nor  picked  his  pocket.  Once 
when  approached  for  a  contribution,  he  had  said  that  a 
broken  church  building  was  good  enough  for  Him  that 
was  born  in  a  manger.  At  another  time  he  had  par 
taken  of  a  public  dinner  on  Sunday. 

Notwithstanding  these  warnings,  the  foolish  people 
had  made  him  their  President.  They  would  have  for 
their  ruler  a  man  who  believed  that  the  only  chosen 
people  on  earth  were  those  who  labored  in  the  earth ; 
a  philosopher  who  had  invented  a  whirligig  chair ;  a 
scientist  who  had  written  a  foolish  account  of  a  monster 
which  he  called  a  mammoth ;  a  man  of  whom  a  for 
eigner  truly  said  that  a  good  mechanical  genius  had 
been  spoiled  by  making  a  Vice-President.  The  well- 
balanced  administrations  of  Washington  and  Adams 
were  to  be  exchanged  for  what  would  be  a  series  of 
experiments  under  this  "philosopher."  His  theories  of 
government  were  well  suited,  it  was  declared,  for  some 
island  savages,  but  not  for  civilized  people.  Rumors 
were  not  lacking  that  he  would  declare  in  his  inaugural 


228          THE  MEN  WHO  MADE   THE  NATION 

address  a  confiscation  of  property  according  to  the  ex 
ample  of  his  admired  French  Revolutionists.  ;  The 
memory  of  confiscated  Tory  estates  was  too  recent  in 
America  to  brand  such  rumors  as  idle  tales. 

President  Adams,  cut  off  with  one  term,  explained 
his  defeat  by  saying  that  "a  group  of  foreign  liars, 
encouraged  by  a  few  ambitious  native  gentlemen,  have 
discomfited  the  education,  the  talents,  the  virtues,  and 
the  property  of  the  country."  A  Connecticut  news 
paper  deplored  the  rise  of  democracy :  "  The  Rulers 
are  Servants  of  the  People,  is  one  of  the  "favorite  cant 
ing  doctrines  of  modern  times.  The  true  source  of 
much  mischief  in  the  world  —  it  is  putting  those  into 
power  who  ought  to  be  in  servitude.  '  Set  a  beggar  on 
horseback  and  he  will  ride  to  the  Devil '  says  the  prov 
erb." 

Nor  did  the  "well-born"  Federalists  refrain  from 
mocking  the  new  rulers.  When  a  poet  of  the  people 
wrote  new  words  to  the  Federalist  "  Adams  and  Lib 
erty  "  song  containing  such  lines  as, 

"  Let  all  true  Americans  join  heart  and  hand 
And  witness  this  day  their  heart-felt  satisfaction," 

a  shout  of  ridicule  went  up  from  the  Federalist  critics. 
In  derision  they  composed  a  new  "  Liberty  song"  for 
these  yearners  after  liberty  and  reason,  whose  poets 
played  havoc  with  metre  and  rhyme : 

"  Liberty's  friends  thus  all  learn  to  amalgamate, 
Freedom's  volcanic  explosion  prepares  itself; 
Despots  shall  bow  to  the  fasces  of  Liberty, 
Reason  and  Philosophy,  *  fiddledum,  diddledum.' 
Peace  and  Fraternity,  higgledy,  piggledy, 
Higgledy,  piggledy, '  fiddledum,  diddledum.'  " 


THOMAS  JEFFERSON  229 

Under  such  circumstances,  the  inauguration  and  es 
pecially  the  inaugural  address  were  awaited  with  no 
little  anxiety.  The  new  city  of  Washington,  buried  in 
the  woods,  afforded  little  opportunity  for  ceremonies, 
yet  sufficient  for  the  new  President,  who  wished  to  de 
monstrate  to  the  people  by  contrast  how  far  republican 
simplicity  had  been  changed  into  aristocratic  ostentation. 
Four  years  before  he  had  insisted  that  the  news  of  his 
election  as  Vice-President  should  not  be  carried  to  him 
by  gentlemen  of  distinction,  but  ''indorsed  to  the  post 
master  at  Charlottesville  "  to  be  delivered  at  Monticello. 

"  In  addition  to  its  usual  populace,"  according  to  the 
newspapers,  the  "  city  "  of  Washington  on  the  4th  of 
March,  1801,  contained  "a  large  body  of  citizens  from 
adjacent  districts."  The  Washington  artillery  ushered 
in  the  day  with  a  salute.  "  At  ten  o'clock  the  Alex 
andria  company  of  infantry,  attended  by  the  artillery, 
paraded  in  front  of  the  President's  lodgings."  At  eleven 
o'clock,  Burr  took  the  oath  as  Vice-President  before  the 
assembled  Senate.  Soon  after  the  President-elect,  "  at 
tended  by  a  number  of  his  fellow-citizens,  among  whom 
were  many  members  of  Congress,  repaired  to  the  capitol. 
His  dress  was,  as  usual,  that  of  a  plain  citizen  without 
any  distinctive  badge  of  office."  There  was  a  discharge 
of  artillery  as  he  entered  the  building  and  another  as 
he  left  it.  Having  entered  the  Senate  chamber,  Burr 
arose,  and  Jefferson  occupied  his  seat.  "  After  a  few 
moments  of  silence,"  Jefferson  arose  and  read  his  inau 
gural  address.  Reseating  himself  for  "  a  short  period," 
he  then  walked  to  the  secretary's  desk  and  took  the 
oath  of  office.  At  night  there  was  a  "  pretty  general 
illumination." 


230          THE  MEN  WHO  MADE   THE  NATION 

Compared  with  the  inaugurations  of  Washington  and 
Adams,  these  exercises  were  simple  ;  but  they  occurred 
under  different  environment.  The  woods  surrounding 
the  new  capital  did  not  offer  as  much  possibility  for 
display  as  did  New  York  or  Philadelphia.  The  story, 
widely  circulated  at  the  time,  that  Jefferson  rode  unat 
tended  to  the  capital  and  tied  his  horse  to  a  tree  near 
the  spring  was  based  to  some  extent  on  this  contrast, 
but  to  a  greater  degree  upon  the  desire  to  magnify 
democratic  simplicity.  The  growth  of  party  comity 
and  the  subsidence  of  partisan  alarm  is  illustrated  by 
comparing  this  inauguration  with  those  of  later  times, 
when  the  incoming  and  outgoing  presidents,  although 
party  enemies,  occupy  the  same  carriage  in  the  pro 
cession.  President  Adams,  with  one  term  to  two  of 
Washington,  could  not  endure  the  ordeal  and  left  the 
capital  at  four  o'clock  on  the  inauguration  morning, 
having  sent  Mrs.  Adams  on  a  few  days  before. 

The  death  of  a  son  a  few  weeks  before,  and  a  scurril 
ous  letter  written  by  an  enemy  on  the  last  day  of  his 
administration,  combined  to  make  his  farewell  to  official 
life  most  unpleasant  to  remember.  Having  "  trotted  the 
Bogs,"  to  use  his  own  expression,  five  hundred  miles  in 
fourteen  days,  he  reached  his  home  and  became  "the 
farmer  of  Stony  field."  l 

The  inaugural  address  gave  much  comfort  to  the 
Federalists ;  it  gave  little  hope  to  the  extreme  Republi 
cans.  Instead  of  declaring  a  proscription  of  property, 
it  insisted  that  the  will  of  the  majority  must  prevail,  but 
must  be  rightful  and  reasonable,  and  that  the  minority 
should  possess  their  equal  rights  which  the  laws  must 

1  "The  Works  of  John  Adams,"  Vol.  XI.,  p.  364. 


THOMAS  JEFFERSON 


231 


SPEECH 

of 
THOMAS    JEFFERSON, 

PRESIDENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

DELIVERED 
AT    HIS   IlfSTJLMSK't, 

KA1CU    4,     l80I, 

AT  THE  CITY  OF  WASHINGTON. 

WITH  TKAHSLATIOJTS  INTO  THE 
FRENCH;  ITALIAN,  AND  GERMAN  TONGUES, 


protect,  and  to  violate  which  would  be  oppression. 
Where  some  thought  that  he  would  avow  enmity  to  the 
existing  government,  he  said,  "  I  believe  this,  on  the 
contrary,  the 
strongest  gov 
ernment  on 
earth."  In 
stead  of  declar 
ing  attainder  of 
treason  upon 
his  political  op- 
ponents,  he 
said:  "We 
have  called 
by  different 
names  brethren 
of  the  same 
principle.  We 
are  all  Repub 
licans;  we  are 
all  Federal 
ists."  It  was 
said  in  a  Fed 
eralist  paper 
that  some  rabid 
Republicans, 
who  had  cut 
the  legs  from 
their  boots  in  imitation  of  the  style  "  coming  over  the 
ankle  "  as  Jefferson  wore  them,  were  so  disgusted  with 
such  peaceful  and  forgiving  doctrine  that  they  repaired 
to  the  outer  portion  of  the  capitol  grounds  and  stitched 


PARIS, 
PRINTED  AT  THE  ENGLISH  PRESS. 


TITLE-PAGE  OF  JEFFERSON'S  INAUGURAL 
ADDRESS 


232          THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

the  legs  on  again.  A  Massachusetts  paper  pronounced 
the  address  "  pertinent,  judicious,  and  conciliatory." 

The  conciliatory  spirit  in  which  Jefferson  entered 
upon  his  duties  was  the  reflection  of  his  high  ideal  of 
the  presidency  J  He  was  to  be  the  father  of  his  people, 
anticipating  their  wants,  careful  of  their  rights,  swaying 
them  by  love  instead  of  force.  The  word  "  coercion  " 
was  to  be  stricken  from  the  national  vocabulary.  But 
very  early  in  his  administration  he  was  to  learn  that  a 
President  in  fact  is  quite  otherwise  from  a  President  in 
theory;  that  a  part  of  the  people  as  well  as  their  leaders 
would  remain  in  opposition  to  the  administration.  At 
first  he  wrote :  "  With  the  people  I  have  hopes  of 
effecting  it  \_i.e.  harmony].  But  their  Coryphaei  are 
incurables.  I  expect  little  from  them."  Presently  he 
noted  "  Hamiltonians,  Essex-men  and  Revolutionary 
tories,  etc.,"  who  should  have  "tolerance  but  neither 
confidence  nor  power." 

Harmony  could  never  be  brought  to  the  government 
with  these  opposing  Federalists  in  possession  of  its 
offices.  This  thought  grew  upon  Jefferson  as  the 
demand  of  his  people  for  the  positions  of  these  aristo 
crats  increased  to  a  clamor.  The  Federalist  newspapers 
added  to  the  fury  by  pointing  out  how  President  Adams 
"had  taken  pains  to  leave  the  several  departments  in 
the  hands  of  men  of  the  most  distinguished  talents  and 
unquestionable  patriotism."  In  completing  this  good 
work  he  "  continued  filling  all  the  offices  till  nine  o'clock 
of  the  night  at  twelve  of  which  he  was  to  go  out  of  office 
himself,"  as  Jefferson  complained.  But  this  partisan 
arrangement  was  not  necessarily  fixed ;  it  could  be  reme 
died  by  the  President  removing  the  appointees.  It  was 


THOMAS  JEFFERSON  233 

the  first  time  this  question  had  arisen.  The  leading 
Republican  papers  did  not  doubt  the  right  of  displacing 
these  aristocrats.  "  To  retain  such  men  in  trust  under 
such  appointments  would  be  political  suicide,  and  the 
new  administration  would  MERIT  every  affliction  which 
could  not  but  result  from  a  sufferance  of  evil." 

When  Jefferson  had  brought  himself  gradually  to 
entering  upon  the  "painful  operation"  of  substituting 
at  least  one-half  Republicans  for  Federalists,1  the  latter 
began  to  alter  the  soft  words  which  the  inaugural  address 
had  called  out.  Newspapers  printed  lists  of  removals 
under  the  head,  "  We  are  all  Republicans  —  We  are  all 
Federalists  !  !  !  '  When  Jefferson  petulantly  assured 
demanding  applicants  that  death  gave  him  few  vacancies 
to  fill,  the  Federalists  declared  the  assertion  inhuman ; 
that  he  said,  in  fact,  "  My  foes  are  in  my  way  and  I 
cannot  wait  the  general  operation  of  natural  demise  to 
remove  them  out  of  it."  (  It  was  rumored  that  a  system 
of  "  denouncing  "  office-holders  for  removal  would  be 
inaugurated  according  to  the  mode  of  the  French  Revo 
lution.) 

Nor  did  Jefferson's  appointments  please  the  Federal 
ists.  They  had  at  first  hinted  he  could  not  find  enough 
educated  men  in  his  whole  mob  to  fill  the  cabinet  posi 
tions.  Madison  as  Secretary  of  State  was  expected, 
but  Albert  Gallatin  as  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  pro- 

1  In  1807,  Jefferson  wrote  to  William  Short:  "Out  of  about  six  hun 
dred  offices  named  by  the  President,  there  were  six  Republicans  only  when 
I  came  into  office,  and  these  were  chiefly  half-breeds.  Out  of  upward  of 
three  hundred  holding  during  pleasure,  I  removed  about  fifteen,  or  those 
who  had  signalized  themselves  by  their  own  intolerance  in  office,  because 
the  public  voice  called  for  it  imperiously,  and  it  was  just  that  the  Republi 
cans  should  at  length  have  some  participation  in  the  government.  ...  In 
this  horrid  drudgery,  I  always  felt  myself  as  a  public  executioner." 


234 


THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 


voked  a  howl  of  indignation.  It  was  declared  "  a  hand 
some  thing  that  Americans  should  hire  a  Genevan  to 
keep  their  money,"  that  a  man  with  "the  brogue  still 
hobbling  on  his  tongue"  should  assume  the  position 
created  by  the  great  Hamilton.  When  the  Republicans 
pointed  out  that  Hamilton  was  also  a  foreigner,  the 
Federalists  said  that  Hamilton  had  served  in  the  war 

of  the  Revolution 
fighting  for  his 
adopted  country, 
while  Gallatin  had 
been  only  in  the 
"whiskey  war," 
and  that  against 
his  adopted  coun 
try. 

Gallatin,  a  for 
eigner  who  could 
appreciate  the  op 
portunities  offered 
in  America,  a  col 
lege  man  yet  in 

strong  sympathy  with  the  common  people,  a  special  stu 
dent  of  finance,  a  resident  of  the  frontier  of  that  day,  was 
well  calculated  to  fall  in  with  Jefferson's  cherished  ideas 
of  "  individual  freedom,  economy,  and  reform."  This 
shibboleth  had  been  put  forth  by  Jefferson  in  the  inau 
gural  address,  and  it  has  stood  for  democracy  for  a  cen 
tury.  He  was  the  father  of  the  principles  of  the 
modern  Democratic  party ;  thirty  years  later  Andrew 
Jackson  was  to  create  the  party  machinery  and  party 
organization. 


FEDERAL  CARTOON  ON  GALLATIN 


THOMAS  JEFFERSON  235 

In  the  interest  of  economy,  the  circuit  courts,  the  final 
creation  of  the  Federalists,  were  readjusted,  and  the 
judges  deprived  of  their  life-tenure  offices;1  a  number  of 
consulates  were  abolished  and  replaced  by  cheaper  "  com 
mercial  agents "  appointed  from  among  the  natives ; 
nineteen  inspectors  of  revenue  were  discharged,  and  their 
duties  placed  on  the  supervisors.  The  forces  of  the 
army  and  navy  were  reduced.  The  construction  of  the 
warships  was  stopped.  All  but  twelve  of  those  built 
were  sold  and  only  six  left  in  commission.  The  United 
States,  the  Constellation,  the  Gen.  Greene,  and  the  John 
Adams  were  brought  up  to  the  Anacostia  branch  of  the 
Potomac  at  Washington,  where  they  floated  at  high  tide 
or  stuck  in  the  mud  when  the  tide  went  out.  Their 
guns  lay  rusting  and  the  wheels  rotting  on  the  bank. 
Work  on  the  various  fortifications  was  stopped.  "  En 
couragement  of  Agriculture  and  of  Commerce  as  its 
handmaiden "  had  been  advocated  in  the  inaugural 
address,  but  commercial  New  England  thought  the 
handmaiden  ill  protected.  A  newspaper  pictured  the 
Americans,  after  one  hundred  years  of  this  Jacobin  rule, 
naked  and  having  lost  all  knowledge  of  trade,  manufac 
tures,  ships,  and  shipbuilding,  gazing  stupidly  at  some 
chance  ship  as  did  Montezuma's  people  upon  the  arriv 
ing  Spaniards. 

Jefferson  at  one  time  expressed  the  hope  that  a  time 
might  come  when  no  tax-gatherer  should  be  seen  in 
America.  At  his  suggestion,  Congress  cut  out  the 

1  No  doubt  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  began  about  this 
time  to  feel  the  pressure  of  the  great  number  of  cases  it  must  pass  upon, 
and  to,  demand  an  intermediary  body  between  itself  and  the  District  Court 
already  established. 


236         THE  MEN  IV HO  MADE  THE  NATION 

excise  law  of  Hamilton  and  the  later  direct  taxes  of 
the  Federalists.  Yet  so  much  did  the  receipts  from  the 
customs  duties  increase  during  this  period  of  prosperity 
and  before  the  rise  of  American  manufactures  that 
they  atoned  for  these  abandoned  taxes  and  yielded  a 
surplus  year  by  year.  Of  the  national  debt,  Jeffer 
son  said,  "We  can  pay  off  his  [Hamilton's]  debt  in 
fifteen  years ;  but  we  can  never  get  rid  of  his  financial 
system."  1 

Even  while  the  President  and  his  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  were  planning  the  emancipation  of  the  people 
from  a  debt,  fate  was  placing  the  administration  in  a 
position  where  not  only  an  addition  to  the  debt  was 
demanded,  but  where  his  constitutional  principles  and 
his  conscientious  scruples  were  to  be  rudely  shaken. 
The  time  had  arrived  for  the  first  expansion  of  territory. 

In  May  following  his  inauguration,  Jefferson  wrote 
to  Monroe  :  "  There  is  considerable  reason  to  apprehend 
that  Spain  cedes  Louisiana  and  the  Floridas  to  France. 
It  is  a  policy  very  unwise  in  both  and  very  ruinous  to 
us."  Ever  since  the  birth  of  the  United  States,  Spain 
had  proven  a  troublesome  neighbor  on  the  south,  al 
though  not  an  aggressive  neighbor.  But  under  the 
French,  headed  by  the  ambitious  Napoleon,  Louisiana 
might  easily  revive  the  dream  of  a  colonial  empire  in 
America.  No  country  was  safe  from  that  man.  France, 
in  her  struggle  for  liberty,  fraternity,  and  equality,  had 
been  the  idol  of  Jefferson.  England,  in  attempting  to 
restore  monarchy,  had  been  his  detestation.  He  now 
wrote  to  Livingston,  the  American  minister  to  France : 

1  During  Jefferson's  two  administrations,  Gallatin  paid  over  $23,000,000 
on  the  national  debt. 


THOMAS  JEFFERSON-  237 

"  France  placing  herself  in  that  door  [New  Orleans] 
.assumes  to  us  the  attitude  of  defiance.  Spain  might 
have  retained  it  quietly  for  years.  .  .  .  The  day  that 
France  takes  possession  of  New  Orleans  fixes  the  sen 
tence  which  is  to  restrain  her  forever  within  her  low- 
water  marks.  .  .  .  From  that  moment  we  must  marry 
ourselves  to  the  British  fleet  and  nation."  He  also  sug 
gested  that  France  could  reconcile  the  Americans  to 
the  transfer  of  the  whole  of  Louisiana  to  her  only  by 
ceding  to  them  the  island  of  New  Orleans  and  the 
Floridas. 

The  "  island  of  New  Orleans  "  1  once  in  the  possession 
of  the  United  States  would  remove  the  immediate  ques 
tion  of  a  seaport  for  the  Mississippi  trade.  Appreciat 
ing  the  "  fever  into  which  the  western  mind  is  thrown 
by  the  affair  at  N.  Orleans,"  Jefferson  sent  Monroe,  a 
man  possessing  "  the  unlimited  confidence  of  the  admin 
istration  and  of  the  western  people,  and  of  republicans 
everywhere,"  to  France  to  effect  the  purchase,  and, 
failing  in  that,  to  "cross  the  channel."  Only  by  a 
successful  mission  could  the  country  prevent  getting 
"  entangled  in  European  politics,  and,  figuring  more,  be 
much  less  happy  and  prosperous." 

Before  Monroe's  arrival,  Livingston,  haggling  with 
Napoleon's  representative  for  the  " island"  and  the 
Floridas,  was  astonished  to  be  asked,  "  What  will  you 
give  for  the  whole  of  Louisiana  ?"  Upon  Monroe's 
arrival  the  bargain  was  struck,  and  soon  Jefferson 

1  The  "  island "  was  formed  by  the  Mississippi  river,  Lake  Ponchar- 
train,  and  a  bayou  called  the  Iberville  river.  It  included  the  city  of  New 
Orleans,  and  its  acquisition  would  solve  the  troublesome  question  of  a 
market  and  transfer  place  for  western  products. 


238          THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

could  write,  "  The  territory  acquired,  as  it  includes  all 
the  waters  of  the  Missouri  &  Mississippi,  has  more 
than  doubled  the  area  of  the  U.  S.  and  the  new  part  is 
not  inferior  to  the  old  in  soil,  climate,  productions  & 
important  communications."  As  a  man  of  peace  he 
rejoiced  that  war  with  France  had  been  averted,  and 
this  vast  territory  secured  through  negotiation.  He  had 
visions  of  "  giving  establishments  in  it  to  the  Indians 
on  the  east  side  of  the  Missipi,  in  exchange  for  their 
present  country,  and  open  land  offices  in  the  last  & 
thus  make  this  acquisition  the  means  of  filling  up  the 
Eastern  side,  instead  of  drawing  off  it's  population. 
When  we  shall  be  full  on  this  side,  we  may  lay  off  a 
range  of  States  on  the  Western  bank  from  the  head 
to  the  mouth  &  so,  range  after  range,  advancing  com 
pactly  as  we  multiply."  The  alarm  of  the  Eastern 
states  over  the  purchase  was  to  him  quite  natural. 
"  These  federalists  see  in  this  acquisition  the  formation 
of  a  new  confederacy,  embracing  all  the  waters  of  the 
Missipi,  on  both  sides  of  it,  and  a  separation  of  it's 
Eastern  waters  from  us."  "  The  future  inhabitants  of 
the  Atlantic  &  Missipi  States  will  be  our  sons ;  .  .  . 
and  if  they  see  their  interests  in  separation,  why  should 
we  take  side  with  our  Atlantic  rather  than  our  Missipi 
descendants  ?  It  is  the  elder  and  the  younger  son 
differing.  God  bless  them  both  &  keep  them  in  union, 
if  it  be  for  their  good,  but  separate  them,  if  it  be 
better." 

The  opposition  rested  not  only  on  the  danger  of 
separation  by  too  large  a  domain,  but  also  on  the  inabil 
ity  of  the  government  under  the  Constitution  to  acquire 
additional  territory.  Jefferson  had  always  been  a  stickler 


THOMAS  JEFFERSON  239 

for  the  exact  powers  as  stated.  On  this  point,  he  wrote 
to  Gallatin  :  "  There  is  no  constitutional  difficulty  as  to 
the  acquisition  of  territory.  ...  I  think  it  will  be  safer 
not  to  permit  the  enlargement  of  the  Union  but  by 
amendment  of  the  Constitution."  He  therefore  drew 
up  such  an  amendment  whose  adoption  would  be  the 
ratification  by  the  nation  of  the  action  of  the  President 
and  Senate.  "  It  is  a  case  of  a  guardian,  investing  the 
money  of  his  ward  in  purchasing  an  important  adjacent 
territory ;  &  saying  to  him  when  of  age,  I  did  this  for 
your  good ;  I  pretend  no  right  to  bind  you ;  you  may 
disavow  me,  and  I  must  get  out  of  the  scrape  as  I  can  ; 
I  thought  my  duty  to  risk  myself  for  you."  But  when 
some  one  pointed  out  that  such  an  avowal  would  be 
taken  by  the  opposition  as  a  confession  that  the  admin 
istration  had  overstepped  its  powers,  the  President  wrote 
to  his  friends  that  "  the  less  we  say  about  constitutional 
difficulties  the  better,"  and  that  "it  will  be  desirable  for 
Congress  to  do  what  is  necessary  in  silence" 

To  the  end  he  thought :  "  I  had  rather  ask  an  enlarge 
ment  of  power  from  the  nation,  when  it  is  found  neces 
sary,  than  to  assume  it  by  a  construction  which  would 
make  our  powers  boundless.  Our  peculiar  security  is 
in  possession  of  a  written  Constitution.  Let  us  not 
make  it  a  blank  paper  by  construction."  But  the  prece 
dent  has  been  followed  without  the  amendment  in  many 
subsequent  acquisitions,  and  Jefferson  stands  as  an  un 
willing  violator  of  his  foundation  principle  of  strict  con 
struction.  Necessity  was  continuing  to  make  the  nation. 

In  his  message  to  Congress  in  October,  1803,  Presi 
dent  Jefferson  announced  that  the  purchase  of  Louisiana 
would  add  nearly  $13,000,000  to  the  national  debt, 


240          THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

most  of  which  would  be  payable  after  fifteen  years ; 1 
before  which  time  the  existing  national  debt  would 
all  be  paid.  He  therefore  hoped  that  the  interest  on 
this  additional  debt  could  be  met  without  a  new  tax. 
Already  Gallatin  had  cast  about  for  further  means  of 
paring  expenses,  but  could  find  nothing  save  the  much 
pared  navy.  The  commercial  interests  protested  in 
vain.  Many  recalled  the  inauguration  day  of  Jefferson 
when,  in  a  Philadelphia  procession,  a  great  barge  or 
boat  on  wheels  bore  the  legend,  "  THOMAS  JEFFERSON, 
THE  SUPPORTER  OF  THE  NAVY."  Events  had  soon  shown 
that  Jefferson  was  more  in  sympathy  with  domestic  than 
foreign  commerce,  and  that  democratic  retrenchment 
could  not  favor  a  large  expenditure  for  a  navy.  In 
connection  with  the  subjugation  of  the  pirates  on  the 
north  African  coast,  Congress  had  authorized  the  con 
struction  of  not  more  than  fifteen  "  gun-boats."  Modelled 
on  the  plan  of  the  celebrated  vessels  of  Naples,  they 
were  low  and  of  narrow  build,  seventy-one  feet  long, 
generally  sloop  rigged,  and  carried  two  long  thirty-two- 
pounders.  They  cost  about  $5000  each.  Numbers  in 
stead  of  names  were  used  to  designate  them.  Numbers 
2  to  10  inclusive  saw  service  in  the  Mediterranean. 
So  impressed  was  Jefferson  with  this  style  of  vessel, 
its  utility  for  harbor  defence,  facility  of  preparation  and 
movement,  cheapness  of  its  construction,  and  economy 
of  its  service,  that  Congress  from  time  to  time  ordered 
157  of  them  of  varying  sizes,  carrying  one  or  two  guns 
and  manned  by  about  thirty  sailors. 

1  The  Hartford  Courant  estimated  that  the  purchase  of  Louisiana 
would  average  a  tax  of  $30  for  each  family  in  the  state,  and  would 
never  be  worth  30  cents  to  any  family. 


THOMAS  JEFFERSON  241 

Gallatin  insisted  that  they  were  not  to  take  the  place 
of  a  navy,  but  as  no  frigates  were  built  after  1807,  com 
mercial  interests  declared  that  the  country  was  being 
sacrificed  to  a  foolish  economy.  Some  showed  that 
while  a  frigate  of  56  guns  would  cost  as  much  as  25 
gunboats  of  one  gun  each,  yet  that  the  420  gunners 
necessary  to  man  the  frigate  would  be  sufficient  to  man 
only  10  gunboats ;  that  the  2520  men  necessary  to  man 
56  gunboats  of  one  gun  would  man  6  frigates  of  336 
guns.  Many  later  critics  of  Jefferson's  economic  policy 
claim  that  the  War  of  1812  would  not  have  gained  such 
adverse  headway  if  the  proper  defence  had  not  been 
sacrificed  to  a  theory.1 

The  decay  of  Spanish  power  in  the  new  world  coupled 
with  the  meteoric  career  of  Napoleon  in  the  old  had 
inflamed  the  minds  of  many  ambitious  men  in  the 
United  States  to  build  an  empire  on  the  Spanish  ruins. 
The  age  of  romantic  expeditions  seemed  to  be  returning. 
Francis  Miranda,  a  South  American  adventurer,  sailed 
from  New  York  with  a  small  number  of  men  to  liberate 
his  native  Caracas  from  Spanish  rule.  An  ex-Vice- 
President,  Aaron  Burr,  of  New  York,  foreseeing  the 
revolt  of  Spanish  Mexico,  planned  an  incursion  from 
New  Orleans  into  the  upper  portion  of  that  country. 

In  his  message  to  Congress  in  December,  1806,  Jef 
ferson  reported  that  he  had  tried  to  prevent  "  a  great 
number  of  private  individuals  combining  ^together,  arm- 

1  Before  1809,  176  gunboats,  of  the  257  planned,  had  been  built  at  a 
cost  of  $1,800,222.  Seven  were  lost  in  gales,  and  five  destroyed  by  the 
British  at  New  Orleans.  They  were  of  such  little  value  in  the  War  of 
1812  that  they  were  ordered  laid  up,  and  in  1815  forty  were  sold  at  prices 
ranging  from  $220  to  $690  each.  See  Goldsborough's  "  U.  S.  Naval 
Chronicle." 


242          THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

ing  and  organizing  themselves  contrary  to  law  to  carry 
on  military  expeditions  against  the  territories  of  Spain." 
To  a  friend  he  wrote,  "  The  designs  of  our  Catiline 
are  as  real  as  they  are  romantic,"  and  a  little  later  thought 
that  Burr  intended  "  to  take  possession  of  New  Orleans 
as  a  station  from  which  to  make  an  expedition  against 
Vera  Cruz  &  Mexico."  Still  later :  "Burr's  enterprise 
is  the  most  extraordinary  since  the  days  of  Don  Quixot. 
It  is  so  extravagant  that  those  who  knew  his  under 
standing  would  not  believe  it  if  the  proofs  admitted 
doubt.  He  has  meant  to  place  himself  on  the  throne 
of  Montezuma,  and  extending  his  empire  to  the  Alle- 
gany  seizing  on  N.  Orleans  as  the  instrument  of  com 
pulsion  for  our  Western  States." 

Naturally  opposed  to  the  coercion  of  the  people, 
Jefferson  waited  quietly  until  Burr  had  actually  started 
on  his  way  down  the  Mississippi  and  then  set  in  motion 
the  whole  military  machinery  to  stop  him.  Although 
he  thought  the  expedition  composed  of  "  fugitives  from 
Justice  or  from  their  debts  .  .  .  and  of  adventurers  & 
speculators  of  all  descriptions,"  "who  were  longing  to 
dip  their  hands  into  the  mines  of  Mexico,"  he  imag 
ined  that  Burr  after  being  captured  was  shielded  by  the 
Federalists,  who  made  his  cause  their  own.  It  seemed 
a  good  time  to  crush  the  remnant  of  that  party.  After 
Burr  had  been  convicted,  he  would  commit  for  trial 
those  "  who  by  boldness  betray  an  inveteracy  of  crimi 
nal  disposition.  Obscure  offenders  &  repenting  ones 
should  lie  for  consideration."  Even  Burr's  counsel, 
Luther  Martin,  should  be  tried  as  an  accomplice,  and, 
if  not  convicted,  the  trial  would  at  least  "  put  down 
this  unprincipled  &  impudent  federal  bull-dog." 


THOMAS  JEFFERSON  243 

The  trial  of  Burr  at  Richmond,  Virginia,  on  a  charge 
of  treason  assumed  to  Jefferson  a  political  aspect. 
Chief  Justice  Marshall,  who  presided  in  the  circuit 
court  at  Richmond,  was  a  Federalist  whose  life  term 
under  the  Constitution  had  made  his  removal  impos 
sible.  When  he  decided  that  Burr  had  not  committed 
an  overt  act  of  treason  as  defined  in  the  Constitution,  Jef 
ferson  asked  whether  his  letters,  his  rendezvous,  and  his 
flight  were  not  "  overt  acts."  It  was  all  clearly  a  part 
of  politics ;  of  "  that  rancorous  hatred  which  Marshall 
bears  to  the  government  of  his  country,  &  from  the 
cunning  &  sophistry  within  which  he  is  able  to  en 
shroud  himself."  Yet  if  the  escape  of  Burr  from  pun 
ishment  should  bring  an  amendment  to  the  Constitution 
making  the  justices  of  the  Supreme  Court  removable 
by  the  President,  it  would  be  worth  while.  Meanwhile, 
"  the  enterprise  has  done  good  by  proving  that  the 
attachment  of  the  people  in  the  west  is  as  firm  as  that 
in  the  east  to  the  union  of  our  country." 

From  a  less  partisan  standpoint,  the  Burr  episode 
proved  beneficial  in  showing  that  the  charge  of  treason 
is  not  to  be  used  in  the  new  world  as  a  cloak  for  unde 
served  punishment ;  that  a  centralizing  of  the  Union  by 
such  means  must  lead  to  tyranny  ;  and  that  our  fathers 
were  wise  to  specify  in  the  Constitution  exactly  in  what 
treason  should  consist.  If  a  guilty  person  escape  under 
failure  to  prove  an  overt  act,  the  sentence  of  social 
ostracism  which  the  public  places  upon  a  man  even 
charged  with  treason  is  sufficiently  deterrent.  The  fate 
of  Aaron  Burr  stands  as  a  warning  to  the  American 
who  is  tempted  to  incur  even  the  suspicion  of  treason. 

In  a  last  and  perhaps  the  saddest  instance  of   his 


244         THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

administrations,  Jefferson  was  doomed  to  find  that  man 
is  weak  by  nature,  that  patriotism  dissolves  rapidly 
before  material  interests,  and  that  it  must  at  times  be 
replaced  by  coercion.  In  attempting  to  build  up  a 
navy  on  an  economic  plan,  England  fed  her  sailors 
upon  such  poor  food  that  desertions  were  numerous. 
Made  drunk  on  shore,  Jack  came  to  his  senses  on  board 
a  man-of-war  to  find  himself  duly  articled  as  a  sailor 
and  doomed  to  weevilled  biscuits  and  a  rope's  end. 
Upon  the  now  abandoned  theory  of  "  once  a  subject 
always  a  subject,"  England  reserved  the  right  of  stop 
ping  any  vessel,  lining  up  its  seamen  on  deck,  and 
selecting  such  men  as  could  be  proven  deserters.  Often 
the  proof  was  scanty,  for  the  sailor  had  no  fixed  home 
nor  means  of  identification.  Gallatm  estimated  that 
the  American  vessels  employed  about  25,000  British 
sailors  annually  since  so  many  American  sailors  were 
engaged  in  the  fisheries.  Various  means  were  suggested 
in  America  for  stopping  this  impressment.  Jefferson 
opposed  the  plan  of  giving  each  American  seaman  a 
certificate,  since  it  might  be  lost  so  easily.  He  would 
have  the  number  of  sailors  apportioned  to  the  tonnage 
of  a  vessel,  and  let  the  overplus  be  taken.  Neither 
remedy  was  adopted,  and  the  obnoxious  practice  con 
tinued. 

In  1807,  the  British  frigate  Leopard  overhauled  the 
American  frigate  Chesapeake  within  sight  of  the  Caro 
lina  shore  and  carried  off  four  sailors,  three  of  whom 
were  American  citizens.  The  country  was  instantly 
aflame.  Jefferson  wrote :  "  Never,  since  the  battle  of 
Lexington,  have  I  seen  such  a  state  of  exasperation  as  at 
present.  And  even  that  did  not  produce  such  unanim- 


THOMAS  JEFFERSON"  24$ 

ity.  .  .  .  '  Reparation  for  the  past  and  immunity  for 
the  future '  is  our  motto.  Whether  these  will  be  yielded 
freely  or  will  require  resort  to  non-intercourse,  or  to  war, 
is  yet  to  be  seen."  War,  with  its  "  speculations  of  con 
tractors  and  jobbers,  and  the  introduction  of  permanent 
military  and  naval  establishments,"  was  as  objectionable 
to  Jefferson  as  to  Gallatin.  The  latter  said :  "  Money 
we  will  want  to  carry  on  the  war  ;  our  revenue  will  be 
cut  up  ;  new  and  internal  taxes  will  be  slow  and  not 
sufficiently  productive ;  we  must  necessarily  borrow. 
This  is  not  pleasing,  particularly  to  me ;  but  it  must  be 
done."  Indeed,  war  seemed  the  only  thing  left,  unless 
the  insults  were  to  be  quietly  borne.  A  treaty  had  been 
attempted  the  preceding  year,  but  England  refused  to 
yield  her  right  of  impressment,  and,  as  Jefferson  said, 
"  we  must  back  out  of  the  negotiation  as  well  as  we 
can."  Also  a  mild  retaliation  had  been  tried  by  refus 
ing  to  allow  any  trade  with  England  or  her  colonies. 
The  action  simply  amused  her.  She  was  not  dependent 
on  the  American  trade. 

The  proposition  of  a  neutral  nation  was  a  novel  one, 
and,  as  the  United  States  found  it  during  the  continued 
Napoleonic  wars,  a  most  trying  one.  It  makes  the 
American  blood  boil  to-day  to  read  the  humiliating  story 
of  England  and  France  grinding  American  commerce 
between  the  upper  and  nether  millstone.  Each  was  try 
ing  to  starve  out  the  other,  and  no  American  vessel  must 
bring  in  goods.  By  these  continued  insults,  America  was 
often  brought  to  the  point  of  declaring  war,  but  could 
not  decide  which  of  the  two  countries  gave  the  greater 
cause.  But  the  long-continued  grievance  about  the 
impressment  of  American  seamen  on  British  vessels, 


246         THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

coupled  with  the  old  animosity  of  Jefferson  and  his  fol 
lowers  toward  England,  finally  turned  the  scale. 

War  would  have  been  supported  eagerly  by  the  coun 
try,  but  Jefferson  hesitated  to  abandon  his  principles. 
He  ordered  all  British  vessels  out  of  American  waters, 
organized  the  full  quota  of  the  Virginia  militia,  but  did 
not  call  together  the  war-declaring  power,  the  Congress. 
He  sent  an  armed  vessel  to  the  American  agents  in 
England  to  demand  reparation  from  that  country.  Two 
days  after  Congress  had  revived  the  useless  non-inter 
course  act  of  the  preceding  year,  news  was  received  that 
England  would  sustain  her  officers  in  making  impress 
ments.  The  President  at  once  advised  that  all  American 
commerce  be  withdrawn  from  the  seas  by  an  embargo, 
in  order  to  prevent  impressments  and  seizures.  It  was 
a  part  of  the  old  system  of  commercial  restriction.  It 
meant  suicide  to  thwart  your  enemy.1  Yet  so  strong  was 
Jefferson's  influence  and  so  urgent  the  demand  for  action 
that  such  a  measure  passed  the  House  in  three  days  and 
the  Senate  in  four  hours. 

The  difficulty  of  enforcing  the  embargo  law  was 
apparent  from  the  beginning.  The  collector  at  New 
Orleans  let  forty-two  vessels  go  after  he  knew  of  the 
embargo  because  he  had  no  copy  of  the  law.  The  mer 
chant  interests  of  Maryland  continued  to  send  out  pro 
visions,  naval  stores,  and  lumber,  with  no  arrests,  be 
cause  no  one  would  accept  the  marshalship  of  that  state. 
Shut  out  of  ports,  captains  started  on  foreign  voyages 
from  obscure  river  points  until  a  special  law  was  passed 

1  He  thought  it  the  only  action  which  could  "  save  us  from  immediate 
war  &  give  time  to  call  home  So  millions  of  property,  20,  or  30  ooo  sea 
men,  &  2000  vessels." 


THOMAS  JEFFERSON  247 

for  "vessels  coming  down  the  rivers."  In  the  Maine 
district  of  Massachusetts,  lumber,  flour,  and  pork  were 
slipped  over  into  Canada  until  inspectors  were  given 
power  to  guard  any  "collection"  of  goods  "suspected 
to  be  intended  for  exportation."  So  much  flour  was 
sent  into  seaboard 
states,  undoubtedly 


The  Embargo. 

IUST  publiftcd,  ***  far  Sic,  by 
J     HASTINGS,  BTHBRIDOH  v  B 
THE  EMBARGO  :-Or 

TJM*»—  •   Satire,  ih«  feeond 


corrt<iUd  tod  rnUrged  —  Together  with 
the  SPANISH  REVOLUTION,  MM!  other   Putm., 
By  WILLIAM  COUMM  BITANT. 


to  be  smuggled  out, 
that  the  governors 
were  asked  to  make 
application  for  flour 
when  needed  and  to 

issue  permits  to  reship  it  to  other  American  ports. 
When  the  governor  of  South  Carolina  permitted  57,250 
barrels  of  flour  and  129,400  bushels  of  corn  to  be 
shipped  away,  the  administration  suspected  that  much 
of  it  found  its  way  abroad.  The  collector  near  St. 
Lawrence,  a  region  formerly  supplying  potash  to  Mont 
real,  resigned  "  from  fear  or  at  least  a  wish  not  to  lose 
his  popularity  with  the  people."  The  President  re 
moved  the  collector  at  New  Bedford  "  for  worse  than 
negligence."  Editors  encouraged  this  resistance  by  print 
ing  funeral  notices  of  the  burial  of  liberty.  Authors 
turned  upon  Jefferson  the  full  strength  of  their  invec 
tive.1  The  collector  of  Sullivan  was  "  on  the  totter." 

Evasions  of  the  embargo  law  continued  until  it  be 
came  necessary  to  consider  as  "suspicious  "  every  vessel 
apparently  bound  for  another  state  which  had  on 

1  William  Cullen  Bryant,  aged  thirty-one,  wrote  a  satire  on  the  embargo, 
in  which  he  addressed  President  Jefferson  : 

"  Go,  wretch  !  resign  thy  Presidential  chair, 
Disclose  thy  secret  measures,  foul  or  fair." 


248          THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 


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board  articles  in  de 
mand  at  foreign  mar 
kets.1  A  force  was 
sent  to  Lake  Cham- 
plain,  but  the  people 
stole  two  of  the  gov 
ernment  rafts.  When 
the  captors,  who  were 
supposed  to  be  Cana 
dians,  were  made  pris 
oners,  the  judge  re 
fused  to  find  bills 
against  them.  All 
the  little  gunboats  in 
commission  and  three 
frigates  were  sta 
tioned  along  the  coast 
and  additional  reve 
nue  cutters  purchased. 
Gallatin  thought  the 
law  could  be  enforced 
only  with  a  small  army 
along  the  Lakes  and 
British  lines  gener 
ally.  "The  people 
there  now  are  alto 
gether  against  the 

1  The  opposition  news 
papers  insisted  that  under 
this  provision  a  cow  was 
seized  in  Vermont  as  she 
was  walking  toward  the  Ca 
nadian  boundary  line. 


THOMAS  JEFFERSON  249 

law."  Collectors  were  harassed  by  suits  in  the  state 
courts.  Fishing  vessels  allowed  to  go  to  the  Banks  "  in 
ballast "  had  secreted  goods  on  board  and  sailed  to  the 
Indies.  Scores  of  captains  took  their  chances  and  sailed 
secretly  without  any  papers.  Quantities  of  flour  and 
pork  were  smuggled  over  to  Canada  on  sleds  during  the 
winter.  An  insurrection  broke  out  at  Oswego,  New 
York,  where  goods  were  being  shipped  to  Canada,  and 
the  militia  was  called  out  to  aid  the  regulars.  A  mob 
at  Newburyport  held  the  custom-house  officers  while  a 
vessel  sailed  away.  Canadian  traders  claimed  that  the 
embargo  was  an  infraction  of  their  treaty  rights  on  the 
Lakes,  which  had  been  guaranteed  in  the  peace  of 

1783. 

Jefferson  himself,  although  loving  his  people,  loved 
his  theory  still  more.  He  suffered  with  them,  but  was 
satisfied  to  claim  that  "  while  the  embargo  gives  no 
double  rations  it  is  starving  our  enemies.  This  six 
months'  session  [of  Congress]  has  drawn  me  down  to 
a  state  of  almost  total  incapacity  for  business."  He 
endeavored  to  set  a  pattern  for  patriotism  by  sending 
to  Colonel  Humphreys  for  some  deep  blue  cloth  to 
make  a  coat.  "Homespun  is  to  become  the  spirit  of  the 
times."  "  My  idea  is  that  we  should  encourage  home 
manufactures  to  the  extent  of  our  consumption  of  every 
thing  of  which  we  raise  the  raw  material." 

Holding  such  sentiments,  he  was  "disposed  to  act 
boldly"  on  the  embargo.  He  regretted  that  "in  some 
places,  chiefly  on  our  northern  frontier,  a  disposition  to 
oppose  the  law  by  force  has  been  manifested."  Still, 
"could  the  alternative  of  war  or  the  embargo  have  been 
presented  to  the  whole  nation,  as  it  occurred  to  then 


250          THE  MEN  WHO  MADE   THE  NATION 

representatives,  there  could  have  been  but  one  opinion, 
that  it  was  better  to  take  the  chance  of  one  year  by  the 
embargo."  Those  Federalists  who  "  are  endeavoring  to 
convince  England  that  we  suffer  more  by  the  embargo 
than  they  do,"  he  considered  "  as  subjects  for  a  mad 
house."  "  The  Tories  of  Boston  threaten  insurrection 
if  their  importation  of  flour  is  stopped." 


NOTICE. 


TliK  MAYOR  (lechJnttv  -'^approves  the 
modc'Of  application  recommended  i'i  a  Morning 
Paper"  yesterday,  t'>  >>'•  puism-'!  by  the  Sailors  of 
this  port,  tor  relict 

He  utforms  the  puNn1  tiuu  liie  Corporation  will, 
on  the  present  einer;cne\ .  as  they  have  done  on 
former  occasions,  pi-ovule  tin-  the  wants  ot  every 
l>erlbn,  without  distinction,  who  may  be  confidcred 
proper  objects  of  relief 

The  Mayor  cannot  condode  this  notice,  without 
exhorting  all  classes  of  Citizens  to  refrain  from 
assembling  in  the  mode  as  proposed,  and  efjxyial- 
ly  diffuatles  the  .Sailors  from  meeiing  in  the  Paik. 

M«yor's4)fficc,  New-York,   ) 
January  W,  18O8.  ) 

II.  C.  SOUTHWICK.  Printer,  93,  Broadway,  4  Doors  from  Wall-st. 


Soon  after  the  law  was  passed  Jefferson  confessed 
to  Gallatin  :  "  This  embargo  law  is  certainly  the  most 
embarrassing  one  we  have  ever  had  to  execute.  I  did 
not  expect  a  crop  of  so  sudden  &  rank  growth  of  fraud 
&  open  opposition  by  force  could  have  grown  up  in  the 
U.  S."  Each  month  the  handwriting  on  the  wall  grew 
more  legible.  Riots  occurred  in  the  seaport  cities. 


THOMAS  JEFFERSON"  2  5 1 

The  mayor  of  New  York  issued  an  appeal  for  order 
and  advised  against  agitation  meetings.  When  Con 
gress  met,  Gallatin  assured  the  President :  "  What  I 
have  foreseen  has  taken  place.  A  majority  will  not 
adhere  to  the  embargo  much  longer."1  He  also  told  of 
a  rumored  convention  of  the  five  New  England  states 
and,  possibly,  New  York.  "  Something  must  be  done 
to  anticipate  and  defeat  this  nefarious  plan."  By  Feb 
ruary  the  crash  came.  Jefferson  wrote :  "  I  thought 
Congress  had  taken  their  ground  firmly  for  continuing 
their  embargo  till  June,  and  then  war.  But  a  sudden 
and  unaccountable  revolution  of  opinion  took  place  last 
week,  chiefly  among  the  New  England  and  New  York 
members,  and  in  a  kind  of  panic  they  voted  the  4th  of 
March  for  removing  the  embargo,  and  by  such  a 
majority  as  gave  all  reason  to  believe  they  would  not 
agree  either  to  war  or  non-intercourse.  This,  too,  was 
after  we  had  become  satisfied  that  the  Essex  Junto  had 
found  their  expectation  desperate,  of  inducing  the  people 
there  to  either  separation  or  forcible  opposition."2  A 
theory  had  again  yielded  to  necessity. 

The  closing  days  of  Jefferson's  administration  were 
as  sad  as  the  inception  was  joyous.  His  embargo  was 
repealed,  and  to  Jefferson  the  loss  of  a  theory  was  as 

1  Some   of   the  opponents  of   the  embargo  claimed  that  Jefferson  by 
speculating  in  tobacco  had  made  ^"30,000  out  of  the  law.     One    of   the 
toasts  offered  at  Salem,  Massachusetts,  was :    "  To  THE  MODERN  JUDAS 
ISCARIOT.     He  has  received  his  thirty  pieces  of  silver;   let  him  now  go 
hang  himself."     A  song  went  the  rounds: 

"  Where,  oh  where  is  our  highland  daddy  bound? 
He's  bound  to  his  plantation  with  thirty  thousand  pounds, 
With  a  gunboat  embargoed  to  plough  his  native  ground." 

2  Ford's  "Jefferson's  Works,"  Vol.  IX.,  p.  244. 


252          THE  MEN  WHO  MADE   THE  NATION 

the  loss  of  a  favorite  child.  A  nomination  sent  to  the 
Senate  was  rejected.  "  This  reception  of  the  last  of  my 
official  communications  to  them  could  not  be  unfelt." 
The  public  debt  was  not  wiped  out ;  taxes  were  still 
levied  ;  the  presence  of  armed  vessels  and  militia  proved 
the  futility  of  non-coercion ;  insurrection  showed  on  all 
sides ;  the  coming  war  spirit  began  to  be  felt.  Only 
democratic  simplicity  was  left,  and  Jefferson,  refusing 
the  offer  of  "  the  good  citizens  of  our  country  to  meet 


MONTICELLO 

me  on  the  road  on  my  return  home,  as  a  manifestation 
of  their  good  will,"  preferred  "  taking  them  individ 
ually  by  the  hand  at  our  court  house  and  other  public 
places."  Sending  the  eleven  servants  and  the  house 
hold  goods  forward  in  the  great  wagons  which  had  been 
brought  from  Monticello  for  that  purpose,  he  started  in 
a  one-horse  vehicle  with  a  driver,  and  another  servant 
on  horseback.  Escaping  with  difficulty  at  Culpeper 
Court  House  a  group  of  patriots  who  wanted  to  hear 
"  Old  Tom  "  speak,  he  reached  that  notable  home  on 
the  mountain  shelf,  second  in  American  interest  only  to 


THOMAS  JEFFERSON 


253 


the  home  at  Mount  Vernon.  It  was  a  lonely  home. 
Forty-four  years  Jefferson  lived  a  widower,  faithful  to 
the  promise  given,  it  was  said,  to  his  dying  wife.  If  he 
had  not  lived  longer  than  his  retirement  from  office,  so 
many  had  been  the  disappointments,  so  radical  had  been 


the  contradictions  which  necessity  compelled  in  his 
theory  and  practice  toward  the  Union,  that  his  end 
would  have  been  sad  to  contemplate.  But  fate  allowed 
him  seventeen  years  of  enjoyment  of  ease,  removed  from 
unpleasant  contact  with  political  life,  pursuing  scientific 
investigation,  improving  the  surroundings  of  Monticello, 


254          THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION' 

and,  above  all,  seeing  arise  over  on  the  opposite  slope 
four  miles  away,  the  white  dome  of  that  pride  of  his  old 
age,  the  non-sectarian  University  of  Virginia. 

Over  his  grave,  halfway  up  the  wooded  slope  of  Mon- 
ticello,  stands  a  stone  bearing  an  inscription  written  by 
himself.  It  is  a  silent  witness  to  his  desire  to  forget  the 
discouraging  eight  years  during  which  he  was  President 
of  the  United  States  and  the  exponent  of  the  rule  of  the 
people.  It  was  true  that  the  national  debt  had  been  re 
duced  $33,580,000  under  his  administration  and  that  a 
clear  surplus  would  remain  after  the  expenditures  of  his 
retiring  year.  It  was  also  true  that  home  production  and 
consumption  had  been  stimulated  under  his  restrictive 
measures.  But  another  would  reap  the  fruits  of  this 
new  condition  in  an  "American  system,"  as  yet  not 
elaborated.  Even  the  sun  of  national  prosperity  was 
obscured  by  threatening  war  clouds.  Above  all,  the 
conviction  must  have  been  forced  home  that  the  re 
stricted  political  form  in  which  the  Union  had  been 
created  could  not  continue  if  its  commercial  interests 
were  allowed  to  grow  as  they  naturally  would. 


CHAPTER   VIII 

HENRY  CLAY,  THE  FATHER  OF  PUBLIC  IMPROVEMENTS 

"  I  turn  from  this  imposing  pageant,  so  rich  in  glitter,  so 
poor  in  feeling,  to  think  of  him  who  should  have  been  the  cen 
tral  figure  of  this  grand  panorama  —  the  distant,  the  powerless, 
the  forgotten  .  .  .  the  lifelong  champion  of  a  diversified  Home 
Industry ;  of  Internal  Improvements.  .  .  .  More  grateful  to 
me  in  the  stillness  of  my  lonely  chamber,  this  cup  of  crystal 
water  in  which  I  honor  the  cherished  memory  with  the  old, 
familiar  aspiration  — 

"  '  Here's  to  you,  HARRY  CLAY  ! '  " 

—  GREELEY  at  the  Inauguration  of  President  Taylor. 

THE  English  colonists  had  formed  a  thin  fringe  of 
people  along  the  Atlantic  coast,  gathered  in  little 
groups  about  some  harbor  or  navigable  stream.  They 
had  small  means  of  communication  save  through  the 
mother  country.  All  interests  bound  them  to  the  east. 
Upon  the  west  lay  bewildering  forests  which  concealed 
foes  both  human  and  animal.  Streams  furnished  nat 
ural  waterways,  but  these  were  often  broken  by  rapids 
or  at  certain  seasons  were  too  shallow  to  be  navigable. 
Although  it  was  necessary  to  make  a  portage  about 
rapids  and  to  confine  travel  to  the  high-water  seasons,  it 
was  easier  than  trying  to  make  wagon  roads  out  of  the 
Indian  trails. 

255 


256          THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

Waterways,  therefore,  became  a  prominent  factor  in 
determining  the  lines  of  movement.  They  had  enabled 
the  French  to  form  a  complete  chain  about  the  English. 
French  traders  and  Jesuits  went  swiftly  and  silently  in 
their  birch  bark  canoes,  up  and  down  the  St.  Lawrence, 
over  the  Great  Lakes,  and  on  the  Mississippi.  They  jour 
neyed  easily  from  Quebec  to  New  Orleans,  while  the  Eng 
lish  were  confined  to  the  Atlantic  coast  by  the  great 
barrier  of  the  Alleghany  Mountains.  Not  a  waterway, 
save  the  Potomac,  led  toward  the  west.  At  various  times 
the  English  colonists  called  the  attention  of  the  home 
government  to  these  advances  of  the  French,  and  in 
1716  Governor  Spotswood,  of  Virginia,  led  a  party  as  far 
west  as  the  sources  of  a  branch  of  the  Rappahannock, 
where  bottles  were  buried  containing  the  claims  of 
George  I.  to  the  land. 

The  expulsion  of  the  French  not  only  from  the  land 
due  west  of  the  English,  but  from  Canada  as  well,  was 
accomplished  in  the  wars  ending  in  1763,  and  the  atten 
tion  of  the  colonists  was  thus  turned  to  their  "  back 
country."  The  claim  of  the  Indians  was  gradually 
bought  up  in  various  treaties,  and  "settlers"  flocked 
into  the  "wild  lands."  Companies  were  formed  for 
securing  grants  of  this  new  land  and  selling  it  to  the 
settlers  or  to  immigrants  brought  from  Europe. 

For  several  reasons,  the  Virginians  were  most  inter 
ested  in  the  new  region.  Being  a  country  people,  and 
accustomed  to  depend  upon  their  rifles  for  food,  they 
easily  bore  the  solitude  and  the  privations  of  pioneer 
life.  Their  agricultural  instincts  carried  them  into  the 
interior  and  away  from  the  commercial  sea.  The  slave 
labor  which  they  employed  cultivated  the  ground  exten- 


HENRY  CLAY 

sively  rather  than  intensively,  and  their  favorite  crop, 
tobacco,  by  impoverishing  the  soil,  demanded  new 
lands.  Under  her  charter,  Virginia,  as  previously 
stated,1  claimed  all  the  land  lying  north  of  the  North 
Carolina  boundary,  and  west  of  the  other  states.  Be 
cause  of  this  claim,  the  Virginians  had  borne  the  brunt 
of  the  western  campaigns  against  the  French,  one  of 
her  militia  officers,  George  Washington,  saving  a  rout 
after  Braddock's  defeat.  A  further  reason  for  Virginia 
being  foremost  in  settling  the  trans-Alleghanian  region 
lay  in  the  fact  that  she  was  brought  most  closely  in 
touch  with  it  by  both  natural  and  artificial  roadways. 

The  Braddock  expedition,  in  attempting  to  go  from 
tide-water  to  the  head  of  the  Ohio  river,  had  chosen  a 
road  long  known  to  traders,  and  indeed  for  part  of  its 
distance  used  by  an  earlier  expedition.  It  went  up  the 
Potomac  river  or  a  trail  parallel  to  it  as  far  as  Will's 
creek,  where  now  stands  Cumberland,  Maryland,  and 
thence  over  the  mountains,  and  crossing  the  Youghio- 
gheny  to  the  Monongahela,  passed  down  that  river  to 
the  junction  forming  the  Ohio.  Braddock's  soldiers 
had  made  a  good  road  over  this  route ;  but  the  traveller, 
after  reaching  Fort  Pitt  (now  Pittsburg),  must  embark 
on  the  Ohio,  and  run  the  risk  of  the  savage  on  its 
northern  shore. 

The  line  of  movement,  therefore,  turned  south  from 
Will's  creek  along  the  Shenandoah  valley  until  it  was 
joined  by  another  road  leading  directly  from  Richmond. 
The  two  combined  to  make  the  "  Wilderness  road " 2 

1  In  Chapter  I. 

2  A  description  and  map  of  the  "  Wilderness  road  "  may  be  found  in 
the  publications  of  the  Filson  Club,  Louisville,  Kentucky. 

s 


258          THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

leading  along  the  New,  Holston,  and  Clinch  rivers,  in 
what  is  now  the  southwestern  point  of  Virginia,  to  the 
Cumberland  Gap.  Just  before  the  Gap  was  reached,  a 
branch  of  the  road  passed  down  the  Clinch  into  what  is 
now  Tennessee.  After  passing  the  Gap,  the  main  road 
turned  sharply  north  into  the  blue  grass  region  of 
Kentucky.1 

Daniel  Boone  first  "  blazed "  with  his  tomahawk 
the  trees  along  the  two  hundred  miles  of  what  became 
the  "Wilderness  road."  He  removed  his  family  from 
North  Carolina  to  the  Kentucky  country,  only  to  be 
captured  by  the  Indians.  After  his  escape  he  found 
that  his  family  had  returned  to  Carolina.  Unshaken  in 
his  hope  of  the  western  country,  he  joined  a  company 
which  established  Boonesborough.  A  blockhouse  had 
been  built  on  the  Elkhorn  before  1775,  and  to  the 
few  cabins  erected  under  its  protection  the  name  of 
"  Lexington  "  was  given  when  the  news  of  April  iQth 
reached  that  distant  region.  Travellers  began  to  find 
their  way  into  Kentucky  and  returned  to  excite  the 
imagination  with  stories  of  the  wonderful  land.  The 
forests  abounded  with  game,  the  streams  with  fish,  and 
the  open  woods  with  berries  and  grapes.  The  fertility 
of  the  soil  was  so  marked  that  all  vegetation  assumed 
unusual  size.  In  various  places  were  salty  marshes  or 

1  The  most  northerly  route  used  by  the  people  in  migrating  to  the  Ohio 
valley  led  up  the  Mohawk  and  over  Lakes  Ontario  and  Erie.  Another 
lay  through  Pennsylvania,  up  the  Juniata,  and  sheer  over  the  mountains  to 
the  Conemaugh.  A  third  went  up  the  Potomac  river  to  Will's  creek,  whence 
a  northern  branch  crossed  the  mountains  to  the  Monongahela  river  along 
the  Braddock  road.  A  southern  branch  led  down  through  the  Clinch 
valley  to  Tennessee,  or  through  the  Cumberland  Gap  by  the  Wilderness 
road  to  Kentucky.  A  fourth  route  brought  the  Carolinians  into  Tennessee 
around  the  southern  base  of  the  mountains,  -=—  $ee  y.  S.  Census,  1880. 


HENRY  CLAY  259 

"licks,"  so  called  because  wild  animals  came  there  to 
lick  up  the  salty  earth.  The  noise  of  their  bellowing 
and  fighting  made  the  woods  ring.  The  buffalo,  one  of 
the  wild  animals  frequenting  these  licks,  had  made 
broad  paths  or  "traces"  by  many  years'  passing  of  his 
huge  body  and  hard  hoofs.  Other  animals  of  incredi 
ble  size  must  inhabit  the  country  or  have  done  so 
heretofore,  since  bones  of  gigantic  size  were  found  in 
the  marshes  at  these  licks.1  There  were  also  springs  of 
various  mineral  tastes  which  were  said  to  possess  differ 
ent  curative  powers. 

With  such  attractions,  a  small  exodus  took  place  from 
Virginia  and  the  Carolinas  for  "old  Kaintuck,"  which 
continued  many  years.2  A  large  proportion  of  the  fam 
ilies  of  Kentucky  are  descended  from  Virginians,  but 
generally  of  the  middle  class  socially.  They  were  dis 
senters  from  the  Established  church  of  the  Virginia 
colonial  aristocracy. 

These  dissenting  sects,  freed  from  persecution  in  the 
Revolution,  sprang  up  immediately  after  and  increased 
with  amazing  rapidity.  The  Baptists  assumed  that  pre 
dominance  which  they  have  since  enjoyed  in  the  south. 
Their  converts  were  made  among  the  middle  rather  than 
the  upper  class,  which  adhered  to  the  successor  of  the 
Established  church,  the  Episcopal. 

In  all  Virginia  there  is  scarcely  a  less  promising 
region  than  the  "slashes"  or  low,  swampy  ground  on 

1  Jefferson  was  interested  in  these  bones  of  the  extinct  "mammoth." 
The  attention  of  Europe  was  called   to  them   by  Thomas   Ashe   in   his 
"Travels." 

2  The  attempt  to  imitate  the  spelling  of  the  Indian  word  led  to  many 
variations  in  the  name  of  this  region,  until  the  modern  form  was  adopted 
by  an  act  of  the  state  legislature  of  Kentucky. 


260          THE  MEN  WHO  MADE   THE  NATION 

the  South  Anna  river.  The  Rev.  William  Clay,  a 
Baptist  clergyman  ministering  to  his  parishioners  in 
that  locality,  and  said  to  have  done  much  of  his  preach 
ing  in  the  open  air,  could  scarcely  have  dreamed  that 

the  seventh  child 

born  in  his  rap 
idly  increasing 
family  was  des 
tined  to  rise  by 
a  new  democ- 

•J  £  JNJ ...    j-J  £  JNJ  si  y    Q  L  il\  V  -.  racy  superior  to 

the  Virginia  ar 
istocracy  from 

U;rTE|)     PRi'SIJiKXT  which     he    was 

considered  for 
ever  barred  at 
the  time  of  his 
birth.  The  good 
man  passed  away 
^  when  the  boy, 

I     0  IT  I  ZEN. 

Henry,  was  but 
four  years  of 
age,  leaving  lit 
tle  more  than  a 
blessing  to  his 
large  family. 

For  ten  years 
the  widow  man 
aged  to  pay  tuition  to  one  Peter  Deacon,  a  dissipated 
schoolmaster,  who  taught  little  Henry  reading,  writing, 
and  the  science  of  arithmetic  "as  far  as  Practice." 
Fate,  in  her  apparent  ill  humor,  was  really  smiling  upon 


HENRY  CLAY  261 

the  lad  for  she  not  only  placed  him  in  a  log  schoolhouse 
with  an  earthen  floor  and  "puncheon"  seats,  but  she 
allowed  him  to  sit  on  a  bag  of  grain  or  flour  on  a  horse's 
back  journeying  to  and  from  the  mill  of  Mrs.  Darricott 
on  the  Pamunky  river.  "  The  mill  boy  of  the  slashes  >J1 
made  the  fortune  of  Henry  Clay  in  the  new  strength 
of  democracy. 

A  second  father,  who  had  come  into  the  household 
in  the  meantime,  was  seized  by  the  Kentucky  fever  and 
carried  the  family,  save  Henry  and  one  other,  to  the 
promised  land.  Henry  was  left  as  a  clerk  in  the  high 
court  of  chancery  at  Richmond,  and,  under  the  patron 
age  of  the  chancellor,  was  licensed  by  the  state  to  sign 
himself  "Attorney  at  Law,"  when  not  quite  twenty-one 
years  of  age.  What  caused  young  Clay  to  take  his  for 
tunes  into  the  west  must  be  a  conjecture.  Perhaps  it 
was  the  influence  of  the  general  migration  ;  perhaps  the 
good  judgment  which  foresaw  an  environment  better 
suited  to  his  qualifications  than  the  polished  Richmond ; 
perhaps  the  ties  of  his  family,  now  residing  thirteen 
miles  from  Lexington,  Kentucky. 

Lexington  was  the  acknowledged  leader  of  trans- 
Alleghanian  settlements  at  that  time.  In  1788,  the 
Transylvania  Seminary,  duly  chartered  by  the  Virginia 
legislature,  offered  tuition  for  £$  a  year,  "  one 
half  in  cash,  the  other  in  property."  "Property"  was 
explained  as  "pork,  corn,  tobacco,  etc."  At  the  same 
time  a  dancing  school  was  opened,  as  announced  in 
the  Kentucky  Gazette,  founded  the  year  before.  Thus 
Lexington  became  "the  literary  and  intellectual  cen- 

1  The  practice  of  rallying  men  under  some  sobriquet  of  the  leader  has 
been  replaced  in  later  times  by  the  names  of  the  two  great  parties. 


262          THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

tre "  of  the  west,  although  Frankfort,  from  its  more 
central  position,  was  chosen  as  the  first  capital. 

To  this  "western  Athens"  came  the  "mill  boy  of  the 
slashes."  "  Without  patrons,  without  the  favor  or  coun 
tenance  of  the  great  or  opulent,  without  the  means  of 
paying  my  weekly  board,"  as  he  said  later,  "I  remember 
how  comfortable  I  thought  I  should  be  if  I  could  make 
one  hundred  pounds,  Virginia  money,  per  year,  and  with 
what  delight  I  received  the  first  fifteen  shillings  fee." 

The  new  country  of  that  day  presented  opportunities 
for  rapid  advancement  unknown  in  the  conservatism  of 
the  older  portion.  The  standards  of  excellence  were  a 
vigorous  body,  great  physical  courage,  and  "a  good 
shot."  The  rifle  was  a  constant  companion  of  the  com 
mon  people.  Contests  in  marksmanship  were  inevita 
ble  and  their  arbitration  final.  The  professional  man 
was  not  exempt  from  this  requirement,  and  many  a 
young  man  was  said  to  have  "  shot  his  way  into  the 
state  legislature."  Clay  did  this  when  he  was  but 
twenty-six  years  of  age.1  The  common  agency  for  the 
self-education  of  the  professional  man  was  the  debating 
society.2  Even  in  Richmond,  Clay  had  availed  himself 
of  that  aid,  and  he  continued  it  at  Lexington.  It  was  a 
mimic  of  the  combats  in  the  state  and  national  legisla 
tive  arenas  in  the  days  before  the  human  voice  was 
replaced  by  the  printing-press.  Clay's  forensic  prowess 

1  In  later  years,  Clay  was  fond  of  telling  the  story  of  this  accidental 
shot  which  hit  the  centre  of  the  target.     A  bystander  demanded  that  he 
repeat  the  shot  if  it  were  skill  instead  of  accident,  but  Clay  refused  until 
some  one  should  do  equally  well. 

2  The  Danville  Political  Club,  organized  in  178610  meet  every  Saturday 
night,  was  one  of  the  most  famous  of  these  early  debating  societies  in 
Kentucky. 


HENRY  CLAY  263 

in  the  state  legislature  soon  advanced  him  to  a  vacancy 
in  the  United  States  Senate.  The  fact  that  he  lacked 
a  few  months  of  the  age  demanded  by  the  Constitution 
for  that  office  was  not  considered  a  barrier  on  the 
frontier. 

The  Journal  of  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  for 
Monday,  December  29,  1806,  bears  this  record  : 

"  Henry  Clay,  appointed  a  Senator  by  the  Legislature 
of  the  State  of  Kentucky,  in  the  place  of  John  Adair, 
resigned,  produced  his  credentials  and  took  his  seat  in 
the  Senate.  The  credentials  of  Mr.  Clay  and  Mr.  Reed 
were  severally  read,  and  the  oath  was  administered  to 
them  as  the  law  prescribes." 

Clay  at  once  took  his  place  as  the  representative  of 
the  western  people.  During  this  one  session  he  secured 
a  circuit  court  for  the  trans-Alleghanian  states,  made 
easier  certain  land  laws,  secured  the  appointment  of 
commissioners  to  lay  out  a  canal  on  the  Kentucky  side 
about  the  Falls  of  the  Ohio  at  Louisville,  and  voted 
favorably  on  the  call  of  Worthington,  of  Ohio,  for  a 
report  from  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  showing  what 
had  already  been  done  toward  opening  roads  and  canals 
by  the  national  government  and  describing  plans  for 
the  future.1  He  also  heard  President  Jefferson's  report 
upon  a  survey  for  the  "  Cumberland  national  road,"  a 
project  in  which  Clay  was  to  become  deeply  interested 
at  a  later  time. 

1  Albert  Gallatin,  of  foreign  birth  and  practical  turn  of  mind,  had  never 
shared  the  conscientious  scruples  of  his  leader,  Jefferson,  on  works  of 
public  benefit.  In  1808,  he  made  an  exhaustive  report  to  Congress  upon 
the  topography  of  the  United  States,  suggesting  a  network  of  canals,  roads, 
and  rivers  to  be  improved  by  the  central  government,  at  an  estimated  cost 
of  $16,000,000. 


264          THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

The  residents  of  the  Atlantic  coast  plain,  remaining 
in  the  environment  of  their  European  ancestors,  contin 
ued  to  be  a  reflex  of  old-world  types  and  ideals.  The 
compelling  environment  of  the  trans-mountain  region 
produced  a  new  type  out  of  their  brothers  who  migrated 
thither.  It  was  closely  allied  to  the  soil  and  fiercely 
American.  Clay  had  shown  the  result  during  Jeffer 
son's  embargo  struggle  by  offering  legislative  resolu 
tions  that  the  members  should  wear  clothing  of  American 
manufacture.1  The  embargo  kept  out  foreign  goods.  It 
was  an  easy  step  to  the  thought  of  some  kind  of  a  per 
petual  embargo  which  would  compel  the  American  peo 
ple  to  patronize  their  home  productions  and  thus  keep 
the  money  at  home.  Now  a  high  tariff  would  act  as 
an  embargo.  At  the  same  time  it  would  protect  the 
American  workingman,  who  was  manufacturing  these 
articles,  from  foreign  competition.  Those  Americans 
who  persisted  in  buying  foreign  goods  must  pay  the 
tariff  duties  on  them.  The  money  thus  obtained  could 
be  used  in  improving  the  means  of  internal  transporta 
tion.  These  in  turn  would  aid  in  getting  both  the  raw 
materials  to  the  factories  and  the  manufactured  products 
to  the  market.  Thus  Clay  evolved  his  mutually  recipro 
cal  "American  system"  of  a  protective  tariff,  domestic 
manufacture,  and  internal  improvements. 

In  1810,  discussing  a  Senate  bill  to  give  preference  to 
American  products  in  supplying  the  army,  Clay  attacked 
"Dame  Commerce,  a  flirting,  flippant,  noisy  jade,"  as 
opposed  to  domestic  manufacture.  He  declared  his 

1  This  resolution  of  Clay  in  the  Kentucky  legislature  was  ridiculed  by  a 
fellow-member,  and  a  duel  followed  in  which  Clay  was  wounded  in  the 
shoulder. 


HENRY  CLAY  26$ 

pleasure  and  pride  in  being  clad  in  American  clothing. 
"  Others  may  prefer  the  cloths  of  Leeds  and  London, 
but  give  me  those  of  Humphreyville."  Such  sentiment 
held  largely  among  Clay's  western  constituency,  and,  as 
the  balance  of  population  was  gradually  shifted  from 
the  Atlantic  coast  and  its  European  influences  to  the 
western  valley,  Clay  was  able  to  formulate  his  policy. 
The  patriotic  sentiment  engendered  in  the  war  of  1812 
enabled  him  to  announce  the  American  system  soon 
after  peace  had  come,  when  the  times  demanded  a  re 
arrangement  of  the  disordered  finances  and  industries  of 
the  country.  This  same  westward  movement  had  con 
tributed  in  another  way  to  Clay's  policy  by  showing 
the  need  of  better  means  of  communication  over  the 
mountains. 

The  importance  of  connecting  the  waterways  of  the 
Atlantic  slope  with  those  of  the  Ohio  valley  had  been 
realized  before  the  Revolution,  but  assumed  a  new  value 
in  the  aspirations  of  the  young  republic.  Railroads 
were  not  yet  contemplated  ;  it  would  be  impossible  to 
find  water  to  fill  a  canal  over  the  mountains  ;  therefore, 
a  roadway  was  the  only  agency  left.  It  would  be  a  vast 
enterprise,  and  one  for  which  private  capital  had  not 
yet  sufficiently  accumulated.  The  wealthy  state  of  Vir 
ginia,  particularly  interested  in  the  western  country, 
might  undertake  it.  But  if  the  shortest  portage  be 
chosen,  the  highway  would  not  lie  entirely  in  one  state. 
Naturally  the  national  government  suggested  itself  as 
a  common  agency  well  suited  to  undertake  the  road. 
No  one  could  have  foreseen  what  effect  this  would  have 
on  the  Union. 

The  western  people  felt  the  importance  of  such  com- 


266         THE  MEN'  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

munication  with  the  older  section.  When  they  crossed 
the  mountains,  they  bade  farewell  to  friends,  since  the 
journey  was  not  one  to  be  voluntarily  undertaken. 
Several  of  the  middle  western  states,  beginning  with 
Ohio,  arranged  with  the  national  government  for  a  share 
of  the  public  land  sales  to  build  roads  from  the  Atlantic 
to  the  states.  From  this  fund,  three  commissioners 


COMPLETED —V m      m  IS   ^£^^gim**J>      K,,PU,  x,nn»>      \  Y— 

PROJECTED 


THE  CUMBERLAND  ROAD,  SHOWING  APPROXIMATE  DATES 
OF  COMPLETION 

had  been  appointed  in  1805  to  search  for  the  shortest 
and  most  desirable  portage  over  which  to  construct  the 
road.  They  determined  upon  a  route  from  old  Fort 
Cumberland  on  the  Potomac  to  the  Ohio,  a  distance 
of  141  miles.  It  lay  for  some  distance  along  the  old 
Braddock  road.  Such  was  the  report  which  Clay  heard 
during  his  first  term  in  Congress. 

Clay  was  a  southern  man,  bred  in  the  principles  of 
strict  construction.  When  he  made  his  first  appear 
ance  in  Congress,  John  Quincy  Adams  pronounced  him 
"a  young  man  —  an  orator  —  and  a  republican  of  the 
the  first  fire."  Yet  the  republicanism  and  the  strict 
construction  of  Clay  in  Kentucky  were  not  those  of  Jef 
ferson  in  Virginia.  They  would  not  let  constitutional 
theories  stand  in  the  way  of  coveted  benefits.  Clay 
appreciated  the  humor  in  Jefferson's  dodging  the  point 


HENRY  CLAY  267 

by  saying  that  when  states  gave  permission  to  the  gov 
ernment  to  build  a  road,  then  the  constitutional  objec 
tion  was  removed.  According  to  that  reasoning,  all 
restrictions  on  the  national  government  could  be  re 
moved  and  strict  construction  and  state  sovereignty 
would  have  committed  suicide.  Clay  believed  that  the 
money  granted  to  the  Cumberland  road  was  fully 
justified  by  the  "common  defence  and  general  wel 
fare  "  as  well  as  by  the  power  "  to  make  all  laws  which 
shall  be  necessary  and  proper  for  carrying  into  execu 
tion  the  foregoing  powers."  If  the  Cumberland  road 
was  justified,  then  any  other  road  over  which  troops, 
ammunition,  or  anything  necessary  for  the  common 
defence  must  pass,  would  be  justified.  If  the  Congress 
had  power  to  make  such  a  roadway,  it  had  also  power 
to  dig  a  waterway  when  that  form  of  communication 
was  more  desirable  than  a  road.  Post-roads  Clay  would 
construct  under  the  expressed  power  to  establish  post- 
roads,  but  he  would  not  restrict  such  improvements  to 
those  over  which  the  mails  were  to  be  carried.  He 
would  not  have  a  standing  army,  but  would  depend 
upon  a  well-organized  militia  for  which  free  means  of 
movement  must  be  provided.  Whatever  illustration  he 
needed  upon  this  point  was  supplied  by  the  war  of  1812. 
In  agitating  the  war,  Clay  and  the  other  "war-hawks  " 
in  Congress  had  boasted  that  the  Americans  would 
invade  Canada  and  "roll  it  up."  The  difficulty  of 
invading  a  thousand  miles  of  border  was  early  shown 
in  the  northwest.  Governor  Harrison,  of  the  territory 
of  Indiana,  was  placed  at  the  head  of  over  10,000  ill- 
equipped  raw  militia  men,  recruited  in  Kentucky,  Vir 
ginia,  Pennsylvania,  and  Indiana.  When  no  more  men 


268          THE  MEN  WHO  MADE   THE  NATION 

could  be  accepted,  Governor  Shelby,  of  Kentucky,  offered 
to  lead  the  independent  militia  from  his  state.  The  spirit 
of  the  days  of  '76  seemed  to  have  come  again.  But 
when  the  troops  in  several  divisions  started  through  the 
wilderness  between  the  Ohio  and  Lake  Erie,  they  could 
find  no  roads  leading  to  the  enemy. 

The  governor  of  Ohio  furnished  a  band  of  "  pio 
neers  "  who  made  a  kind  of  cleared  way  for  the  middle 
division.  It  was  the  autumn  season,  rainy,  cold,  and 
muddy.  When  the  columns  tried  to  approach  the  west 
ern  end  of  Lake  Erie  they  came  into  the  Great  Black 
Swamp  of  the  Maumee  river.  Three  miles  a  day  was 
good  progress.  Provisions  were  so  far  behind  that  each 
man  had  to  carry  enough  for  seven  days.  Many  had 
recourse  to  nuts  and  bark  of  trees.  Contemporary 
writers  praise  the  endurance  of  the  troops. 

"From  Urbanna  to  the  Rapids  of  the  Miami  is  150  miles. 
The  route  of  the  army  was  through  a  thick  and  almost  track 
less  forest.  As  there  were  a  great  number  of  baggage  waggons 
attached  to  the  army,  it  became  necessary  to  open  a  new  road 
the  whole  distance.  The  soil  of  the  land  was  moist,  being  in 
many  places  a  perfect  swamp.  The  weather  was  rainy  and 
man  and  horse  had  to  travel  mid-leg  deep  in  mud.  Fre 
quently  the  van  had  to  halt  for  the  rear,  which  was  as  often 
detained  on  its  march  in  relieving  waggons  and  horses  from 
the  mire.  .  .  .  The  men  themselves  were  destitute  of  many 
articles  of  the  first  necessity.  .  .  .  When  the  horses  themselves 
were  no  longer  able  to  draw,  these  gallant  sons  of  Mars  har 
nessed  themselves  to  the  sleds  and  in  this  manner  conveyed 
their  baggage  sixty  miles  through  frost  and  snow.  .  .  . 

"  In  this  Swamp  you  lose  sight  of  terra  firma  altogether  — 
the  water  was  about  six  inches  deep  on  the  ice,  which  was  very 


HENRY  CLAY  269 

rotten,  often  breaking  through  to  the  depth  of  four  or  five 
feet.  ...  It  was  with  difficulty  that  we  could  raise  fires  ;  we 
had  no  tents,  our  clothes  were  wet,  no  axes,  nothing  to  cook 
in,  and  very  little  to  eat.  A  brigade  of  packhorses  being  near 
us,  we  procured  from  them  some  flour,  killed  a  hog  (there 
being  plenty  of  them  along  the  road ;)  our  bread  was  baked 
in  the  ashes,  and  the  pork  we  broiled  on  the  coals  —  a  sweeter 
meal  I  never  partook  of.  When  we  went  to  sleep,  it  was  on 
two  logs  laid  close  to  each  other  to  keep  our  bodies  from  the 
damp  ground."  l 

On  the  same  subject,  Clay  said  in  debate  : 

"  We  should  not  have  lost  Moose  Island  during  the  late  war 
if  we  had  possessed  military  roads.  Massachusetts  and  the 
Union  were  unable  to  send  a  force  sufficient  to  dislodge  the 
enemy.  On  the  northwestern  frontier,  millions  of  money  and 
some  of  the  most  precious  blood  of  the  state  from  which  I 
have  the  honor  to  come,  was  wastefully  expended  for  the  want 
of  such  roads.  ...  In  travelling  from  Philadelphia  in  the  fall 
of  1813,  I  saw  transporting  by  government  from  Elk  river  to 
the  Delaware  large  quantities  of  massy  timber  for  war  vessels. 
The  additional  expense  from  wagons  and  horses  would  have 
gone  far  to  complete  the  canal." 

All  through  the  disastrous  campaigns  in  the  north 
west  the  same  lack  of  supplies  continued.  Flour  was 
transported  by  packhorses,  each  animal  carrying  only 
one-half  barrel.  Additional  horses  had  to  accompany 
the  packhorses  to  carry  forage  for  them.  Much  of 
the  flour  was  spoiled  by  rain  or  snow  on  the  way.  It 
was  said  that  the  cost  of  that  actually  consumed  was 
$100  per  barrel.  Of  the  four  thousand  packhorses, 

1  Brown's  "  Views  of  the  Campaigns  of  the  Northwest  Army,"  pp.  39,  43. 


2/0          THE  MEN  WHO  MADE   THE  NATION 

but  eight  hundred  survived.  Many  of  the  contract 
ors  who  had  not  taken  the  lack  of  roads  into  con 
sideration  were  ruined  and  forfeited  their  contracts, 
leaving  the  government  at  the  mercy  of  extortionists.1 
These  experiences  were  vividly  portrayed  in  Congress 
by  members  when  pleading  for  appropriations  to  be 
spent  on  means  of  communication.  Speaking  of  the 
highway  which  had  been  begun  through  the  Black 
Swamp,  one  said : 

"  Not  a  solitary  traveller  now  finds  his  way  along  that  road ; 
it  is  principally  indicated  by  broken  fragments  of  baggage  wag 
ons  and  gun  carriages,  scattered  remains  of  flour  barrels  and 
the  mouldering  skeletons  of  horses  and  oxen,  remaining  as  they 
were  left,  just  visible  above  the  surface  of  the  mud  and  wet 
which  destroyed  them."  2 

Others  pictured  the  hardships  of  the  emigrants  in 
crossing  the  mountains  : 

"  A  farmer  with  a  fine  family  of  children,  finding  a  difficulty 
of  procuring  subsistence  in  some  of  the  older  states,  and  look 
ing  forward  to  their  future  welfare,  determines  to  go  to  the 
western  country  where  land  is  cheap ;  he  sets  out  with  a  little 
cart  and  two  poor  horses,  to  carry  his  wife  and  half  a  dozen 
children ;  and  not  knowing  the  distance  or  the  road  accurately 
his  slender  means  is  soon  exhausted ;  the  horses  are  unable  to 
carry  further  all  that  is  dear  to  him  ;  he  is  broken  down  by 
sickness,  and  his  children  cry  around  him  for  that  relief  which 
he  is  unable  to  afford  them;  and  when  he  arrives  at  his  desti- 

1  General  Harrison,  the  western  commander,  was  accused  of  extrava 
gance  in  having  spent  $1,160,000  for  supplies  in  a  year  and  a  half.     See 
"State  Papers  of  the  I4th  Congress,"  2d  Session,  Vol.  I.,  Report  No.  .21. 

2  "American  State  Papers,"  miscellaneous,  Vol.  I.,  p.  593. 


HENRY  CLAY 


2/1 


nation,  he  is  separated  forever  from  all  those  relations  which  he 
may  have  left  behind  him." l 

It  was  impossible  to  resist  such  appeals.  The  demand 
of  those  who  had  migrated  to  the  new  country  was  aided 
by  the  cry  of  their 
friends  in  the  east  who 
wanted  to  exchange  let 
ters  and  visits  with  them. 
Commerce,  ever  aggres 
sive,  demanded  better 
facilities.  Conscientious 
scruples  about  constitu 
tional  construction  must 
vanish  from  each  con 
gressman's  mind  under 
such  pressure  from  con- 
stituents.  The  first 
appropriations  for  the 
Cumberland  road  were 
made  from  the  two  per 
cent  fund.3  Later  the 
money  was  advanced 
from  the  United  States 

1  Harrison,  of  Indiana.    See 
"  Debates  of  Congress,"  Vol.  II., 
Pt.  I.  (1826),  p.  358. 

2  This  public    testimonial  to 
the  father  of  theCumberland  road 
is  located  on  that  great  highway 
near  Wheeling,  West  Virginia. 

3  Ohio  agreed  not  to  tax  the 
public    land    lying   within    her 
limits    for     five    years,    if    the 

United   States  would    give   her  MONUMENT  TO  HENRY  CLAY  2 


2/2          THE  MEN  WHO  MADE   THE  NATION" 

treasury  to  be  replaced  from  this  meagre  fund  ;  at  last 
all  disguise  was  thrown  aside,  and  money  was  voted 
directly  to  complete  the  road  not  only  to  the  Ohio 
river  at  Wheeling,  but  through  the  state  capitals  of 
Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois,  and  Missouri.1 

Although  the  American  system  contributed  powerfully 
to  the  making  of  the  Union,  since  it  ignored  the  agency 
of  the  states,  it  begot  a  most  pernicious  practice  of 
"log-rolling"  among  the  members  of  Congress,  as  well 
as  a  never  satisfied  hunger  among  the  people  for  further 
public  benefits.  In  order  to  gain  the  passage  of  some 
local  benefit  measure,  a  member  was  obliged  to  promise 
aid  to  a  similar  enterprise  fathered  by  another.  An 
appropriation  for  one  locality  incited  the  cupidity  of  its 
neighbors.2  When  Clay  pushed  his  Louisville  canal 
survey  through  the  Senate  during  his  first  session  by  a 
vote  of  1 8  to  8,  John  Quincy  Adams  explained  it  as 
having  "obviously  been  settled  out  of  doors."  He  also 
made  a  calculation  that  the  senators  from  the  three  states 
interested  in  the  canal  (Virginia,  Kentucky,  and  Ohio), 

five  per  cent  of  the  proceeds  of  the  sales  of  these  lands  for  building 
roads.  Subsequently  two  per  cent  of  this  five  per  cent  was  granted  for 
making  a  road  to  the  state  of  Ohio.  The  same  agreement  was  afterwards 
made  with  the  states  of  Indiana,  Illinois,  and  Missouri.  Having  once 
entered  upon  the  building  of  this  road,  the  Federal  government  found 
it  impossible  to  stop.  Sixty  distinct  acts  were  passed  for  the  road  between 
1806  and  1838,  and  almost  $7,000,000  appropriated. 

1  That  is  through  Columbus,  Indianapolis,  Vandalia,  and  Jefferson  City. 
Before  it  was  fully  completed,  the  road  was  given  by  the  United  States  to 
these  four  states.     They  have  given  it  to  the  respective  counties  through 
which  it  passes,  by  whom  it  is  still  maintained. 

2  In  1804,  the  Ohio  Canal  Company  was  incorporated  by  the  legisla 
ture  of  Kentucky  for  building  a  canal  about  the  Falls  at  Louisville.     The 
enterprise  solicited  Congressional  aid,  since  it  would  benefit  the  govern 
ment  salt  works  on  the  Wabash,  and  would  hasten  the  sale  of  public  lands 
along  the  Ohio  river. 


HENRY  CLAY  273 

together  with  those  interested  in  the  Chesapeake  and 
Delaware  canal  (Maryland,  Delaware,  and  Pennsylvania) 
could  influence  enough  additional  members  to  carry 
both  those  measures. 

The  self-interest  attached  to  all  these  claims  for  pub 
lic  benefit  is  illustrated  by  the  Maysville  road.  The 
people  of.  central  Kentucky  desired  an  outlet  to  the 
Ohio  river,  and  a  company  was  organized  to  construct 
a  road  from  Lexington  to  Maysville.  In  order  to  get  the 
national  government  to  subscribe  to  the  enterprise,  it 
was  proposed  to  make  it  a  link  in  a  great  "  national " 
road  which  should  branch  southwardly  in  Ohio  from  the 
Cumberland  national  road,  and,  passing  through  Ken 
tucky  and  other  intervening  states,  eventually  reach 
New  Orleans.  Fortune  seemed  to  favor  the  plan. 
Henry  Clay,  the  virtual  father  of  "  internal  improve 
ments,"  resided  near  Lexington,  and  Andrew  Jackson, 
the  President  of  the  United  States,  near  the  line  of  the 
proposed  road  in  Tennessee. 

Notwithstanding  the  opposition  of  the  southern 
Atlantic  states,  whose  hopes  of  a  road  to  New  Orleans 
through  their  territory  had  been  raised  by  surveys  and 
reports  made  at  various  times,  the  Maysville  road  meas 
ure  was  put  through  both  houses  of  Congress.  In  vain 
did  the  opposition  show  the  folly  of  spending  $50,000 
on  three  counties  of  Kentucky.  At  this  rate  it  would 
cost  four  millions  to  satisfy  the  state  and  seventy-two 
millions  to  appease  the  eighteen  states.  They  showed 
that  the  national  government  had  already  incurred  obli 
gations  for  public  improvements  amounting  to  one  hun 
dred  and  six  millions.  Forty-two  such  projects  were 
now  pending  in  Congress,  including  bridges,  roads,  rail- 


274          THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

roads,  canals,  and  river  improvements.  The  patronage 
was  raising  up  an  army  of  contractors  and  wire  pullers, 
they  said,  equal  to  the  standing  armies  of  Europe.  Clay's 
"  American  system "  was  declared  not  a  whit  less 
odious  than  the  European  system. 

"  The  President  is  now  supposed  to  allow  the  money 
drawn  from  the  pockets  of  the  people  of  the  nation  by 
indirect  taxation  to  be  squandered  in  making  state  and 
neighborhood  roads  from  the  Ohio  river  to  Mr.  Clay's  farm 
at  Lexington,  merely  that  the  credit  of  the  project  may 
be  given  to  Mr.  Clay."  President  Jackson,  although 
approving  appropriations  for  the  Cumberland  road,  and 
for  rivers,  harbors,  and  canals,  vetoed  the  Maysville  road 
bill. 

One  effect  of  this  veto  was  to  recall  the  people  to 
their  senses  in  the  mad  race  for  public  benefits.  No 
one  who  knew  Andrew  Jackson  could  hope  that  he 
would  change  his  attitude  toward  the  inauguration  of 
new  projects.  His  influence  was  also  so  strong  with 
his  understood  successor,  Van  Buren,  that  no  hope 
could  be  seen  in  the  future.  Before  the  end  of  Van 
Buren's  administration,  the  public  improvement  craze 
had  been  transferred  to  the  states,  and  their  disastrous 
experiences  following  the  panic  of  1837  cooled  the  ardor 
of  these  internal  expansionists. 

Another  effect  was  to  bring  Clay  forward  as  the 
champion  of  public  improvements  unlimited.  "By  the 
injudicious  exercise  of  the  veto  power,"  said  one  news 
paper,  "Jackson  has  lost  all  chances  of  a  second  term. 
The  cry  is  —  Now  FOR  CLAY!"  The  veto  made  him 
an  opponent  of  Jackson  in  the  election  of  1832.  It 
made  Jackson  unpopular  in  districts  expecting  a  share 


HENRY  CLAY  275 

of  the  public  usufruct.  It  was  reported  that  at  Mays- 
ville,  when  the  President  passed  down  the  river  on  his 
way  home  after  the  adjournment  of  Congress,  "not  a 
single  bow  "  was  offered  to  him.  "  As  the  boat  rounded 
off  from  shore,  the  General  from  the  deck  bowed  to  the 
citizens  —  but  not  a  HAT  moved.  Silent  contempt  was 
his  reward  at  this  place."  l  But  indignation  was  not 
sufficiently  widespread  to  defeat  Jackson  and  elect  Clay. 
The  people  were  neither  unappreciative  nor  ungrate 
ful  for  the  efforts  of  Clay  in  their  behalf.  His  journeys 
to  and  from  Washington  at  the  opening  and  closing  of 
Congress  were  continued  ovations.  Especially  was  this 
true  if  he  were  bidding  farewell  to  public  life  and 
retiring  to  his  Kentucky  farm,  as  he  so  frequently  did. 
His  carriage  or  the  public  coach  was  stopped  at  the 
edge  of  every  hamlet  by  the  enthusiastic  people,  who 
drew  it  by  hand  to  the  city  tavern,  where  a  speech 
must  be  made  by  the  great  "  Harry  Clay."2  Later,  a 
public  meeting,  an  informal  serenade,  or  a  banquet 
awaited  ''the  man  who  wins  all  hearts."  If  the  time 
of  his  arrival  chanced  to  be  so  fortunate,  he  graced  the 
annual  horse  trot  or  the  agricultural  fair.  The  local 
poet  fashioned  an  appropriate  stanza : 

"  The  people's  favorite,  Henry  Clay, 
Is  now  the  ;  Fashion '  of  the  day ; 
And  let  the  track  be  dry  or  mucky, 
We'll  stake  our  pile  on  old  Kentucky. 

Get  out  of  the  way,  he's  swift  and  lucky, 
Clear  the  track  for  old  Kentucky." 

1-  Louisville  Advertiser,  July  9,  1830. 

2  When  Clay  came  to  Washington  in  1848  to  address  the  Colonization 
Society,  Senator  Crittenden  said  of  him  that  he  could  get  more  people  to 
listen  to  him  speak  and  fewer  to  vote  for  him  than  any  man  in  the  United 
States. 


276         THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

If  he  chose  to  travel  by  the  Cumberland  road,  public 
recognition  was  doubly  enthusiastic  for  the  man  whose 
efforts  were  largely  responsible  for  this  great  link 
between  the  east  and  west.1  He  himself  testified :  "  I 
have  free  passage  across  the  mountains.  I  am  invited 
to  dinners,  suppers,  and  balls.  Taverns,  stages,  and 
toll-gates  have  been  generally  thrown  open  to  me  free 
of  charge.  A  monarch  might  be  proud  of  the  reception 
with  which  I  have  everywhere  been  honored." 

Much  rivalry  was  manifest  between  the  stage  lines  on 
the  road  for  the  honor  of  carrying  him.  If  he  chose 
the  Old  Line  or  the  Oyster  Line  on  one  trip,  he  must 
promise  to  patronize  the  Good  Intent  the  next  time. 
The  drivers  of  the  Pathfinder,  the  Republic,  and  the  Pro 
tection  contested  with  the  drivers  of  the  Erin  go  Bragh 
and  the  Central  America  for  the  distinguished  passenger. 
The  landlord  of  the  Mount  Venwn,  the  Pancake,  the 
White  Goose  and  Golden  Swan,  or  the  Cross  Keys  stood 
upon  his  steps  to  welcome  the  father  of  the  "  American 
system."  It  was  said  that  Clay  knew  by  name  many  of 
the  drivers  and  landlords  along  the  road. 

His  enemies  sneered  that  the  "hero  of  the  knife  and 
fork "  or  "  the  table  orator "  was  again  upon  his  trav 
els  ;  they  suggested  that  the  American  system  should  be 

1 "  He  was  met  on  his  entrance  into  the  town  by  the  Cumberland  Band, 
who  escorted  him  to  the  hotel  and  there  discoursed  some  of  their  best 
music.  Soon  after  his  arrival,  he  received  a  large  concourse  of  our  citizens, 
who,  as  has  been  the  case  many  thousand  times  before  in  this  and  other 
places,  were  delighted  with  his  bland,  courteous  manner.  After  some  time 
spent  in  gazing  upon  the  features  and  listening  to  the  voice  of  this  most 
remarkable  man  of  the  present  century,  Mr.  Clay  in  a  few  glowing  words 
returned  his  thanks  to  the  assembled  multitude,  wished  them  many  returns 
of  a  happy  new  year,  and  amid  loud  cheering,  retired  to  his  room."  —  From 
the  Cumberland  (Md.)  Civilian. 


HENRY  CLAY  277 

called  the  "  Bribery  system  "  or  the  "  Eating  system." 
Nevertheless,  when  Clay  visited  Pittsburg  the  Anchor 
paper  mills  gave  its  workmen  a  holiday  and  the  cham 
pion  of  American  industry  a  mighty  feast.  The  straw 
manufacturers  made  for  Mrs.  Clay  a  mammoth  straw 
hat,  and  the  silversmiths  of  New  York  presented  a 
tablet  to  their  protector. 

Clay's  admirers  delighted  to  pass  along  the  story  that 
at  one  time,  when  he  was  thrown  from  a  coach  on  a  pile 
of  limestone  broken  to  repair  the  road  near  Uniontown, 
he  remarked,  "  Well,  we  ought  to  have  a  good  road  now, 
since  we  are  mingling  the  limestone  of  Pennsylvania 
with  the  Clay  of  Kentucky."  His  constituency  espe 
cially  admired  the  reply  of  Mrs.  Clay,  who  passed  the 
card  room  in  the  Capitol  and  was  asked  whether  she 
regretted  seeing  her  husband  play  for  money.  "  Oh  no, 
he  nearly  always  wins." 

By  1809,  the  art  of  applying  steam  to  navigation,  as 
perfected  by  Fulton  on  the  Hudson,  had  reached  the 
middle  west.  With  the  coming  of  the  steamboat,  a 
demand  arose  for  the  clearing  of  streams  and  the 
construction  of  harbors  by  the  national  government. 
Although  large  appropriations  were  made,  many 
doubted  whether  the  constitutional  provision  for  regu 
lating  commerce  covered  internal  as  well  as  ocean  com 
merce.  But  the  same  law  of  compulsion  which  was 
making  the  nation  decided  affirmatively.1  This  hesitancy, 
however,  cut  off  artificial  waterways  or  canals  not  a  part 
of  rivers  from  national  aid.  A  new  departure  was 

1  According  to  a  report  of  the  Chief  of  Engineers,  United  States  Army, 
the  total  appropriation  for  rivers  and  harbors  made  by  Congress  between 
1789  and  1892  amounted  to  over  $236,000,000. 


278         THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

made  in  the  Erie  Canal  constructed  by  the  state 
of  New  York  after  years  of  petitioning  Congress  for 
assistance.  Ohio  and  other  states  followed  her  example. 


c  Pauage  of  thf-finl  lioutfrom  tht  Grnml  Canal  into  the  Hud»on. 
at  tha  City  of  Alhnn  y,  on  Wetlni-nflnj,  Or  fob/ r  8,  1823. 


»  uill  ;,m>,   al   II  oVlock. 

>til  with  Hags,  arid  juoorcd  in  a  line  k  front 


Just  when  the  canal  and  steamboat  had  reached  their 
highest  point  of  popularity,  their  rival,  and  ultimately 
their  deadly  foe,  appeared.  At  the  inauguration  of 
Jackson,  a  model  of  a  newly  invented  railroad  car  had 
been  shown  in  the  rotunda  of  the  Capitol,  in  which 
"  eight  persons  were  drawn  by  a  thread  of  common  sew 
ing  cotton."  In  his  "First  Book  of  History,"  Peter 
Parley  said : 

"  But  the  most  curious  thing  at  Baltimore  is  the  railroad. 
I  must  tell  you  that  there  is  a  great  trade  between  Baltimore 
and  the  states  west  of  the  Alleghany  mountains.  .  .  .  Now  in 
order  to  carry  on  all  this  business  the  more  easily,  the  people 
are  building  what  they  call  a  railroad.  This  consists  of  iron 
bars  laid  along  the  ground,  and  made  fast  so  that  carriages  with 
small  wheels  may  run  along  them  with  facility.  In  this  way 
each  horse  will  be  able  to  draw  as  much  as  ten  horses  on  a 
common  road.  A  part  of  this  railroad  is  already  done,  and  if 
you  choose  to  take  a  ride  upon  it  you  may  do  so.  You  will 
mount  a  carriage  something  like  a  stage,  and  then  you  will  be 
drawn  along  by  two  horses  at  the  rate  of  twelve  miles  an  hour." 


HENRY  CLAY 


279 


The  members  of  Congress  went  over  to  Baltimore  by 
stage  for  the  purpose  of  riding  on  the  new  road,  and 


were  surprised  to 
see  one  horse 
draw  four  car 
riages  on  which 
were  seated  one 
hundred  and  fifty 
people.  Soon  the 
steam  locomotive 
had  replaced 
horses  and  sails.1 
The  eccentric 
Davy  Crockett 
described  his  ex 
perience  on  the 
railroad  : 

"This  was  a  clean 
new  sight  to  me ; 
about  a  dozen  big 
stages  hung  onto 
one  machine  and 
to  start  up  a  hill. 


Baltimore  and  the  states  west  of  the 
Alleghany  Mountains.  The  western 
people  buy  a  great  many  goods  at  Bal 
timore,  and  send  in  return  a  great  deal 
of  western  produce.  There  is,  there 
fore,  a  vast  deal  of  travelling  back  and 
forth,  arid  hundreds  of  teams  are  con 
stantly  occupied  in  transporting  goods 
and  produce  to  and  from  market. 


Rail-road  Car. 

8.  Now,  in  order  to  carry  on  all  this 
.business  more  easily 5  the  people  are 
building  what  is  called  a  rail-rx 
'his  consists  of  iron  bars  laid  * 

(From  Peter  Parley's  "  First  Book  of  History") 


1  A  very  popular  song  to  be  heard  in  the  theatres  of  the  day,  began  as 
follows : 

"  At  the  inns  on  our  route 

No  ostler  comes  out 
To  give  water  to  Spanker  or  Smiler; 
But  loll'd  at  our  ease 
We  ask  landlord  to  please 
Put  a  little  more  water  in  the  boiler. 

CHORUS 

And  we're  no  longer  gee  up  and  gee  ho, 
But  fiz,  fiz,  fiz,  off  we  go." 


280         THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

After  a  good  deal  of  fuss,  we  all  got  seated  and  moved  slowly 
off;  the  engine  wheezing  as  if  she  had  tizzick.  By-and-by  she 
began  to  take  short  breaths,  and  away  we  went  with  a  blue 
streak  after  us.  The  whole  distance  is  seventeen  miles,  and 
it  was  run  in  fifty-five  minutes." 

Railroads  were  used  at  first   to    connect  waterways, 
both    natural    and    artificial.       That    they    could    ever 


BOSTOX*; 
J.  FISHER,  !No.  ?!  COURT  STREET. 


supplant   canals   was    doubted.       When    a    Cincinnati 
newspaper  in  1830  predicted  that  within  twenty  years 


HENRY  CLAY  281 

the  many  hundreds  of  canals  planned,  at  a  cost  of 
$30,000,000,  would  be  filled  up  or  drained  to  make 
foundations  for  railroads,  other  papers  "  recorded "  it 
as  a  "matter  of  curious  speculation."  Railways  were 
never  considered  fit  subjects  for  national  aid  beyond  the 
granting  of  public  lands  through  which  they  passed. 
Private  capital  accumulated  sufficiently  to  build  them 
before  the  demand  for  extensive  construction  arose. 
They  never  entered  into  Clay's  American  system. 

In  many  parts  of  the  United  States  one  may  find  a 
well-kept  railway  running  beside  the  grass-grown  bed 
of  a  deserted  canal.  Having  passed  the  day  of  its  use 
fulness,  it  remains  a  silent  witness  to  the  fickleness  of 
popularity.  Here  and  there  over  the  land  one  finds 
evidences  of  the  dead  hopes  of  the  thousands  who  time 
and  again  tried  to  reward  their  champion  with  the 
presidency.  No  man  ever  had  such  followers  as  Clay ; 
so  faithful  through  many  defeats,  yet  never  sufficiently 
strong  to  accomplish  their  purpose.  Adopting  a  homely 
phrase  familiar  to  every  Kentucky  hunter,  they  "  picked 
flint  and  tried  it  again."  A  thousand  voices  were 
always  ready  to  respond : 

"  Here's  to  you,  Harry  Clay, 
Here's  to  you  with  all  my  heart. 
And  you  shall  be  the  President, 
And  that  before  we  part. 
Here's  to  you,  Harry  Clay." 


CHAPTER    IX 

ANDREW   JACKSON,    THE    PEOPLE'S    PRESIDENT 

"  But,  unaided  by  any  such  or  other  improper  means,  and 
opposed  by  an  organized  corps  of  Leading  men,  and  intriguing 
politicians,  in  almost  every  state  of  the  Union,  he  is  emphati 
cally  the  CANDIDATE  OF  THE  PEOPLE."  —  From  an  Address  to 
the  People  of  Ohio  on  the  Next  Presidency.  Cincinnati,  1824. 

"  Freeman,  cheer  the  Hickory  tree 
In  storms  its  boughs  have  sheltered  thee  ; 
O'er  Freedom's  Land  its  branches  wave, 
'Twas  planted  on  the  LION'S  GRAVE." 

—  Campaign  Song  of  1828. 

WAR  is  always  a  disturbing  element  in  history.  It  is 
revolution  as  opposed  to  peaceful  evolution.  Peace  is 
the  normal  condition,  war  the  abnormal.  The  war  spirit 
is  contagious ;  it  is  unreasoning ;  it  is  tyrannical.  It 
demands  a  harmony  of  action  ;  it  denounces  opposition 
as  unpatriotic ;  it  does  not  hesitate  to  restrict  free 
speech  and  civil  rights.  The  man  who  opposes  war 
does  so  at  his  peril ;  the  political  party  which  opposes 
war  invites  defeat.  Those  who  opposed  taking  up  arms 
in  the  Revolutionary  war  were  proscribed,  banished,  and 
their  property  confiscated.  Those  who  opposed  the 
war  of  1812  were  accused  of  treason;1  their  names 

1  In  Adams's  "  History  of  the  Administrations  of  Jefferson  and  Madi 
son,"  see  the  "  blue  light "  charges. 

282 


ANDREW  JA  CKSON  283 

were  held  up  to  scorn  in  later  years ;  their  political 
hopes  blasted.  Not  a  man  who  took  part  in  the  .pro 
testing  convention  at  Hartford  could  ever  hope  for 
political  preferment  at  the  hands  of  the  people. 

The  triumphant  close  of  the  war  brought  such  pres 
tige  to  the  Republicans  or  Jefferson  party  that  the  Fed 
eralists  ceased  to  be  recognized  in  national  politics,  and 
the  political  "  era  of  good  feeling  "  followed.  Men  had 
looked  forward  to  a  cessation  of  partisanship  as  a  kind  of 
millennium.  It  was  felt  that  with  the  abeyance  of  party 
issues,  the  welfare  of  the  entire  country  would  be  more 
carefully  considered.  But  it  was  soon  seen  that  parties 
form  the  mechanism  of  popular  government ;  that  the 
people  must  have  working  lines  if  the  government  is  to 
be  a  thing  of  life ;  that  with  the  disappearance  of  party 
issues,  personal  issues  are  sure  to  arise.  In  that  case, 
the  good  of  the  government  is  lost  sight  of  in  consider 
ing  the  qualifications  of  the  various  leaders  and  in  the 
resulting  personal  strife. 

This  predominance  of  the  personal  element  in  "  the 
era  of  good  feeling  "  was  well  illustrated  in  the  election 
of  1824.  Four  years  before,  party  feeling  may  be  said 
to  have  reached  its  lowest  point  at  the  second  election 
of  Monroe,  when  he  received  every  electoral  vote  cast 
save  one.1  There  was  absolutely  no  national  party  or 
issue.  But  in  1824,  there  were  so  many  candidates 
before  the  electors  that  no  one  had  a  majority. 

In  the  quarter  of  a  century  since  the  people  had 
revolted  and  elected  Jefferson,  a  state  of  affairs  similar 
to  that  time  had  arisen.  Political  power  is  constantly 

1  It  is  said  that  one  elector  threw  away  his  vote  rather  than  have  another 
unanimously  elected  President  after  Washington. 


284          THE  MEN  WHO  MADE   THE  NATION 

slipping  unperceived  from  the  hands  of  the  many  to  the 
hands  of  the  few.  By  1824,  it  had  come  to  be  under 
stood  that  the  Secretary  of  State  should  be  the  next 
President,  the  "Secretary  succession"  as  it  was  called. 
Therefore,  John  Quincy  Adams  received  some  electoral 
votes.  But  a  certain  element  in  Washington  rallied 
about  William  H.  Crawford,  of  Georgia,  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury,  and  tried  to  change  the  order  of  succes 
sion  to  the  presidency.  Adams  was  from  the  north 
Atlantic  and  Crawford  from  the  south  Atlantic  section, 
the  former  seats  of  political  contests.  The  migration  of 
the  people,  as  described  in  a  previous  chapter,  had 
brought  forth  a  new  and  unperceived  element  —  the 
west.  Its  people  were  grateful  to  the  champion  of 
their  great  internal  improvement  system,  and  the  elec 
toral  votes  of  Ohio,  Kentucky,  and  Missouri  were  given 
to  Henry  Clay.  He  was  the  choice  of  the  people  as 
opposed  to  the  politicians,  but  of  the  higher  class  of 
people.  He  might  have  been  elected  had  not  another 
candidate  been  put  forward  by  the  masses  of  the  people. 
This  fourth  candidate,  Andrew  Jackson,  is  an  illustra 
tion  of  war  as  a  disturbing  agent  in  political  plans.  His 
war  record  was  his  great  and  almost  sole  qualification. 
In  the  local  Indian  wars  on  the  southwestern  frontier, 
he  had  endeared  himself  to  the  borderers  as  the  pro 
tector  of  their  homes  and  families  ;  in  the  battle  of  New 
Orleans  he  had  made  himself  a  national  hero,  since  it 
was  a  kind  of  redeeming  victory  in  a  rather  inglorious 
contest  on  the  land.1  The  American  people  have,  since 

1  A  handbill  in  the  New  York  Historical  Society,  reproduced  on  page  286, 
shows  that  no  news  of  the  battle  of  New  Orleans  had  reached  that  city  until 
after  the  news  of  the  peace  came. 


ANDREW  JACKSON" 


285 


the  days  of  Washington,  deemed  the  presidency  the  only 
suitable  reward  for  a  war  hero.  Much  to  the  dismay  of 
politicians,  the  rough 
old  Indian  fighter  re 
ceived  the  highest 
number  of  electoral 
votes,  although  not  a 
majority. 

When  the  unsettled 
election  went  into  the 
House  of  Representa 
tives,  Clay,  the  low 
est  on  the  list,  was 
dropped.1  His  strength 
lay  in  the  west  and 
would  naturally  go  to 
Jackson.  They  were 
the  two  candidates  of 
the  people  ;  they  rep 
resented  the  new  as 
against  the  old.  But 
contrary  to  all  expec 
tation,  Clay  lent  his 
influence  to  Adams  ANDREW  JACKSON  * 

and  secured  his  election.  When  Adams  made  up  his 
cabinet,  Clay  was  made  Secretary  of  State.  His  turn 
would  come  next.  Clay  could  not  believe  that  "the 
killing  of  two  thousand  five  hundred  Englishmen  at  New 
Orleans  "  qualified  Jackson  for  the  presidency. 

Immediately  arose  the  cry  of    "  a  corrupt   bargain." 

1  According  to  the  Constitution,  Amendment  XII.,  Sec.  I. 

2  From  an  old  print  of  the  painting  by  Earle. 


286 


THE  MEN  WHO  MADE   THE  NATION 


Clay  had  sold  himself  for  thirty  pieces  of   silver.1     It 
was  "  a  coalition  of    Blifil  and  Black  George  —  a  com- 

bination,  un 
heard  of  till 
now,  of  the 
Puritan  and 
the  blackleg." 
The  hero  of 
the  people  had 
been  defeated 
by  a  political 
trick.  But  a 
day  of  reckon 
ing  was  only 
four  years 
away. 

Under  u  n- 
known  and  un 
trained  leaders, 
but  men  who 
matched  the 
keenness  of  the 
politician  with 
the  subtlety  of 
the  borderer, 
the  "Jackson  men"  devoted  themselves  for  four  years 

1  A  stanza  of  doggerel,  current  at  the  time,  runs : 

"  Harry  Clay  was  a  cunning  chap, 
His  debts  had  thrown  him  all  aback. 
So  he  felt  a  longing  for  Treasury  pap. 
He  made  a  bargain  with  John  the  great, 
I  shan't  the  particulars  here  relate, 
But  Harry  was  placed  in  the  chair  of  State, 
Heigh-ho,  says  Harry." 


0$c«  of  t he  PMaMpba  Qtnctte,  Ptb.  IfltA,  '*, 

LausDeol 

Glorious  News ! ! ! 

PEACE. 

An  eipress  passed  thi»*ity  this  morning  for  the 
South  w.rrt.    H.  fc.  ...fcimi  imtr  oated  la.t  nighC" 
at  New-York,  which  w*  delivered  to  Mr.  Havens, 
»1»o.  politely  shewed  us  itt  contents,  which  arc  as 
follow ; 

"  A  British  Sloop  of  War,*  with  Mr.  Carrol,  and 
a  Treaty  of  PEACE  has  just  arrived— si^ed  on 
the  24th  Jtecember. 

Whea  the  E^pres.  «eft  New-Yor-k,  at  eleven 
o'clock,  ian  night,  the  city  was  brilliaaUy  ilhj. 
fflinated. 

KP  No  Mail  from  New-Crle»as. 


ANDREW  JACKSON  28? 

to  the  interests  of  their  candidate.  They  marked  every 
representative  who  had  voted  for  Adams,  and  defeated 
many  of  them.  They  changed  the  complexion  of  Con 
gress  until  the  Adams  administration  was  turned  into  a 
series  of  defeats.  This  they  were  able  to  do  largely 
through  the  extension  of  the  suffrage. 

When  the  Declaration  of  Independence  declared 
the  political  equality  of  men,  it  was  not  thought  wise 
to  put  the  theory  into  practice.  The  suffrage  was  con 
trolled  by  the  states  and  was,  in  all  save  two,  restricted 
to  holders  of  property.  Such  had  been  the  custom  in 
England  and  the  colonies.  It  is  estimated  that  not 
more  than  one  person  in  twenty-three  had  sufficient  prop 
erty  to  vote  when  Washington  was  elected  President. 
Gradually,  in  state  after  state,  new  constitutions  were 
formed  which  removed  or  lowered  suffrage  restrictions. 

Although  thus  securing  the  privilege  of  voting,  the 
people  had  small  share  in  the  election  of  President  and 
still  less  in  determining  the  candidates  to  be  voted  upon. 
The  makers  of  the  Constitution  questioned  the  judgment 
of  the  masses  and  therefore  provided  that  the  people 
should  choose  electors,  presumably  the  best  men  in  each 
community,  who  should  meet  and  select  the  man  in  the 
United  States  best  qualified  to  be  President.  But  it  was 
soon  seen  that  electors  could  be  chosen  who  would 
undoubtedly  vote  for  a  certain  man,  and  in  that  indirect 
way  the  people  have  been  in  reality  voting  for  the  Presi 
dent  since  the  very  first  election. 

The  Constitution  allowed  the  several  states  to  decide 
how  these  electors  should  be  chosen,  and  the  state 
legislatures  seemed  to  furnish  a  ready  agency.  In  the 
first  election  of  Washington,  the  electors  were  chosen 


288          THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION* 

by  the  people  in  only  three  out  of  the  eleven  states. 
The  President  was  thus  twice  removed  from  the  direct 
choice  of  the  people.  Democracy  has  gained  slowly  by 
sloughing  off  old  political  forms  and  methods.  For 
years  the  people  slowly  gain  strength  through  evolu 
tion,  and  then  suddenly  break  through  the  upper 
stratum  in  what  is  called  a  political  revolution.  Such  an 
upheaval  came  in  1800,  as  already  described;  another 
was  preparing  in  1824. 

In  the  election  of  1824,  the  people  as  usual  had  no 
power  in  choosing  candidates.  Crawford  had  been 
named  by  a  caucus  of  the  members  of  Congress.  That 
method  had  been  invented,  after  the  unanimous  elec 
tions  of  Washington,  and  was  followed  during  the  subse 
quent  elections  to  1824.  Yet  the  state  legislatures  felt 
themselves  nearer  to  the  people  than  Congress,  and 
they  began  to  nominate  candidates.  Adams  was  nomi 
nated  by  the  legislatures  of  several  New  England  states  ; 
Clay  by  Kentucky  and  four  other  states ;  and  Jackson 
by  his  own  state  of  Tennessee  and  by  Pennsylvania.1 

No  nominations  were  necessary  for  the  campaign  of 
1828.  All  were  either  "Jackson  men"  or  "Adams 
men."  No  party  names  were  known.  The  administra 
tion  papers,  especially  those  that  read  their  doom  in  the 
coming  in  of  the  masses,  attacked  the  record  of  Jackson. 
They  claimed  that  he  "  possessed  only  the  bravery  of  a 
RUFFIAN  and  the  warlike  cunning  of  an  INDIAN  CHIEF. 
.  .  .  CONSTANTINE  was  violent,  uxorious,  and  a  gambler : 

1  By  1840  this  system  of  nominating  by  state  legislatures  had  begun  to 
give  way  to  a  nomination  made  by  a  convention  of  delegates  chosen  by  the 
people  of  a  state.  This  in  turn  was  superseded  by  a  national  convention 
consisting  of  delegates  chosen  from  the  different  states,  a  custom  prevalent 
to  the  present  day. 


ANDREW  JACKSON 


289 


JACKSON  is  all  this  beside  a  Duellist  and  a  Murderer." 
He  would  make  a  fine  contrast  to  the  polished,  religious 
Adams,  with  "his  CHICANERY,  —  his  BRAWLS,  —  his 
SWEARING,  —  his  SHOOTING  and  DAGGERING."  He  was 
called  "the  man  of  the  Pistol  and  Dirk,  the  fireside 
HYENA  of  character,  the  Tennessee  SLANDERER,  the 
GREAT  WESTERN  BLUEBEARD."  Pamphlets  were  printed 
giving  the  particulars  of  Jackson  betting  $5000  in  1806 
on  one  of  his  race-horses  and  then  killing  the  owner  of 
the  rival  horse  on  the  duelling  field.  When  an  editor 
contemplated  putting  mourning  lines  on  his  paper  for 
Jackson's  unfortunate  opponent,  that  bully  threatened 
any  one  found  sympathizing  with  his  victim.  The 
pamphlets  also  described  how  General  Jackson  and  his 
friends  in  1813  attacked  Colonel  Benton  and  his  brother 
with  pistols  and  dag 


HUZZA 

FOR 


WITH  THE 


gers,  during  which 
Jackson's  arm  was 
shattered  by  a  ball. 
Thus  they  pictured 
the  man  who  was 
proposed  for  the 
presidency  instead 
of  the  polished 
gentleman,  John 
Quincy  Adams. 

The  Jackson  men 
ridiculed  the    piety 

of  Adams,  a  piety  which  asked  twenty  thousand  dollars 
in  addition  to  the  regular  appropriation  of  fourteen  thou 
sand  for  furnishing  the  President's  mansion.  One-third 
of  this  money  had  been  lavished,  they  said,  on  the  apart- 


i 

YAMKEESm 

3 


CAMPAIGN  POSTER  OF  1828 


290          THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

ments  of  Adams's  British  wife  and  part  in  buying  — 
Shades  of  Puritanism — a  billiard  table !  Also  $261 3  had 
been  spent  for  "  Dry  Goods."  What  did  that  mean  ? 
No  wonder  that  while  most  presidents  have  retired  poor, 
this  man  had  amassed  a  fortune.  Also  contrast  the 
record  of  the  two  men.  Jackson  had  always  been  a 
man  of  the  people  ;  Adams  was  a  descendant  of  the 
"  well-born  "  and  had  "turned  a  complete  political  som 
erset  "  to  the  Jeffersonians  when  he  saw  the  Federalists 
losing  power  in  Massachusetts.  While  Jackson  was 
pledging  his  estate  to  raise  money  for  his  troops,  Adams 
was  investing  his  salary  in  Russian  bonds.  Jackson 
had  resigned  the  governorship  of  Florida,  declined  a 
cabinet  position  under  Monroe,  and  had  always  surren 
dered  his  commission  when  he  took  off  his  sword  ;  Adams 
had  been  a  public  pensioner  for  almost  a  quarter  of  a 
century,  must  have  received  at  least  $200,000  in  salaries, 
and  had  never  resigned  nor  declined  an  office. 

When  the  Adams  men  called  Jackson  "  half  horse  — 
half  alligator,"  his  followers  accepted  it  as  a  tribute. 
The  term  had  originated  among  the  rougher  element  in 
the  new  west,  who  boasted  that  they  were  not  of  women 
born.  The  printing-presses  were  few  in  the  Jackson 
country  and  the  illiterates  many ;  hence  they  had  re 
course  to  the  oldest  campaign  agency  in  the  world  —  the 
song.  One  of  the  most  popular  began  : 

"  We  are  a  hardy,  free-born  race,  each  man  to  fear  a  stranger, 
Whatever  the  game,  we  join  the  chase,  despising  toil  and  danger, 
And  if  a  daring  foe  annoys,  whatever  his  strength  or  force  is, 
We'll  show  him  that  Kentucky  boys  are  alligators-horses. 

"  I  s'pose  youVe  read  it  in  the  prints  how  Pakenham  attempted, 
To  make  old  Hickory  Jackson  wince,  but  soon  his  scheme  repented  ; 


ANDREW  JACKSON  29 1 

For  we,  with  rifles  ready  cocked,  thought  such  occasions  lucky, 
'And  soon  around  the  General  flocked,  the  hunters  from  Kentucky." 

The  Adams  men  accepted  this  challenge  to  make  the 
issue  on  Jackson's  war  record.  Pamphlets  were  issued 
describing  how  General  Jackson  had  put  to  death  sixteen 
helpless  Indians  on  the  morning  after  the  battle  of  the 
Horse  Shoe  ; l  how  he  arbitrarily  invaded  Spanish  Flor 
ida  and  put  to  death  two  Englishmen,  Arbuthnot  and 
Ambrister,  whom  he  found  there ;  how  the  Secretary 


MOURNFUL,  TRAGEDY 

fttttt 

OR,  THE  DEATH  OF 

Jacob  Webb,   David  Morrow,  John  Harris,  Ht-ury  Lewis,   David  Hunt, 
and    Edward  Lindsay, 

Six  Militia  Men  who  were  cot.dc-mnc.1  to  .lit-,  the  scmcjicc  approved  ?»  M-'-r  O.-u-r:,!  JACKSON, 
am!  !vv  hi-  <>rd<-r  the  whole  >ix  -W.       ' 


of  War  had  suggested  that  he  be  court-martialled  for  his 
conduct ;  how  he  had  hoisted  a  British  flag  at  St.  Mark's 
and  so  decoyed  four  Indians  on  board  and  then  hanged 
them  ;  how  he  had  sworn  by  the  Eternal  to  execute 
Woods,  a  volunteer,  who  had  an  altercation  with  an  offi 
cer  while  the  army  was  near  Mobile,  and  had  done  so. 

1  A  rare  pamphlet  in  the  Library  of  Congress  bears  the  title,  "  A 
Review  of  the  Battle  of  the  Horse  Shoe  and  of  the  Facts  relating  to  the 
Killing  of  Sixteen  Indians  on  the  morning  after  the  Battle  by  the  Orders 
of  Gen.  Andrew  Jackson." 


292          THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

Above  all  they  dwelt  upon  Jackson  putting  to  death 
six  militiamen  at  New  Orleans  for  having  returned  to 
their  homes  under  the  impression  that  they  had  been 
called  out  for  three  months'  instead  of  six  months'  ser 
vice.  Handbills  were  circulated  showing  the  six  black 
coffins  with  descriptive  stanzas  beneath.  One  stanza 
runs : 

"  See  Six  BLACK  COFFINS  rang'd  along, 

Six  GRAVES  before  them  made  ; 

Webb,  Lindsay,  Harris,  Lewis,  Hunt, 

And  Morrow  kneel'd  and  pray'd." 

The  only  attack  which  touched  the  war  hero  was  that 
aimed  at  his  wife  and  her  past  history.  It  is  a  story  al 
most  incomprehensible  now,  when  the  frontier  with  its 
unconventional  life  has  passed  away.  Jackson,  the  young 
lawyer,  crossing  the  mountains  from  his  native  Caro 
lina  to  a  pioneer  life  in  western  Tennessee,  took  lodg 
ings  with  another  young  man  in  the  side  cabin  of  Mrs. 
Donelson,  who  lived  with  her  deserted  but  not  divorced 
daughter,  Mrs.  Robards,  in  the  main  cabin.  The  condi 
tion  of  the  woman,  deserted  by  her  jealous  husband, 
appealed  to  the  chivalrous  nature  and  impulsive  tem 
perament  of  Jackson.  Simply  upon  rumor  that  the  hus 
band  had  obtained  a  divorce  from  the  legislature  of 
the  state  of  Virginia,  Jackson  married  Mrs.  Rob 
ards.  As  a  lawyer  he  should  have  been  more  careful. 
Even  the  later  action  of  having  a  second  and  legal 
marriage  ceremony  after  the  divorce  had  been  really 
granted  could  not  amend  his  past  carelessness.  When 
he  came  into  political  life  his  enemies  would  not  take 
into  consideration  the  extenuating  circumstances  of  the 
lack  of  communication  on  the  border,  the  fierceness  of 


ANDREW  JACKSON 


293 


the  loves  and  hates  of  the  borderer,  and  the  lack  of  a 
rigid  standard  of  life. 


ftLOOIRt  nEK» 


lL,  JACKSOX, 

Jft/JVQ  &  SUJPPLBMMXT  Tt^THE  ".CQFJP/.V  //,?,% 


0    II.    *  K  I,. 

•  ^JR.^/^vivcW-;«  W/,~<1T 


COFFIN  HANDBILL,  CAMPAIGN  OF  1828 

The  Adams  papers  in  the  campaign  found  a  rich 
morsel  in  this  "  scandal."  "  Who  is  there  in  all  the  land 
that  has  a  wife,  sister,  or  daughter,  that  could  be  pleased 
to  see  Mrs.  Jackson  (Mrs.  Robards  that  was)  presiding  in 
the  drawing-room  at  Washington  ?  There  is  POLLUTION 
in  the  touch,  there  is  PERDITION  IN  THE  EXAMPLE  OF 
A  PROFLIGATE  WOMAN."  Jackson  writhed  under  these 
stings,  but  comforted  himself  with  his  coming  revenge 
when  this  slandered  woman  should  be  the  first  lady  in 
the  land ;  when  her  def amers  must  grant  her  the  defer 
ence  due  to  a  President's  wife.  As  the  campaign  drew 
to  a  close  and  his  election  became  assured,  no  prospect 
was  as  pleasing  as  his  coming  revenge.  Mrs.  Jackson, 
or  "  Aunt  Rachel "  as  her  friends  called  her,  had  been 
in  Washington  when  her  husband  was  senator.  She 
was  a  woman  not  without  a  certain  beauty,  but  falling 


294          THE  MEN  WHO  MADE   THE  NATION 

short  of  the  present  standard  by  the  defects  of  her 
border  training  and  life.  She  was  said  to  be  illiterate  and 
fond  of  her  fireside  and  her  pipe.  But  to  Jackson's  faith 
ful  nature  she  was  the  embodiment  of  attractiveness. 

After  Jackson's  election  had  been  assured,  the  people 
of  Nashville  prepared  an  elaborate  dinner  and  ball  for 
him  and  Mrs.  Jackson  before  their  departure  for  Wash 
ington.  On  this  occasion,  kind  women  of  that  city  pre 
pared  for  the  wife  of  the  President-elect  a  gown  more 
in  keeping  with  her  station  than  the  ones  she  usually 
wore.  At  nine  o'clock  on  the  night  prior  to  the  recep 
tion,  Mrs.  Jackson  died.  Rumor  said  that  in  a  hotel  at 
Nashville,  while  on  a  visit  connected  with  the  prepara 
tion  of  the  gown,  she  had  overheard  a  comment  upon 
the  weight  that  her  past  record  would  be  about  the  neck 
of  her  husband  ;  that  she  returned  to  the  Hermitage  in 
tears,  and  in  a  week  was  dead.  Her  husband  sat  by 
her  body  day  and  night  unwilling  to  believe  that  fate 
had  snatched  from  his  hands  the  prize  now  that  it  was 
within  his  grasp.  When  he  started  on  his  lonely  journey 
to  Washington  it  was  with  a  firm  resolution  to  defend 
and  protect  all  women  against  the  tongue  of  slander. 
Only  when  one  knows  the  story  of  Mrs.  Jackson  can 
one  appreciate  her  husband's  defence  of  Mrs.  Eaton.1 

Down  the  Cumberland  to  the  Ohio  and  up  that  stream 
to  Pittsburg  by  boat,  and  across  the  mountains  by  "  a 
plain  two-horse  wagon,"  came  the  presidential  party.  At 
every  city  there  was  an  artillery  salute,  but  from  any 


O'Neal  was  the  daughter  of  a  Washington  tavern-keeper.  She 
married  Major  Eaton  a  few  weeks  before  he  became  Jackson's  Secretary 
of  War.  Some  gossip  concerning  them,  which  had  been  current,  was 
renewed  by  the  politicians.  Jackson  defended  her,  even  to  the  extent  of 
disciplining  his  niece  and  threatening  the  Dutch  minister. 


ANDREW  JACKSON"  295 

further  courtesies  the  recent  affliction  of  the  President  ex 
cused  him.  He  arrived  quite  unexpectedly  at  Gadsby's 
tavern  in  Washington  on  the  morning  of  February  12. 
In  the  afternoon  a  salute  was  fired  and  another  at  sunset. 

As  the  4th  of  March  approached,  the  newspapers 
announced  "  a  great  concourse  of  strangers  in  the  city 
of  every  degree  in  life."  They  were  Jackson  men,  who 
seemed  to  fear  that  their  hero  would  be  again  tricked 
out  of  his  rights.  They  proposed  to  see  "  Old  Hickory  " 
in  the  "White  House."  Many  had  come  in  carts  and 
on  horseback  for  'hundreds  of  miles.  The  aristocratic 
office-holders  compared  them  to  the  barbarians  descend 
ing  on  ancient  Rome.  To  Webster  they  appeared  to 
feel  a  relief  as  if  the  country  had  been  freed  from  some 
awful  danger.  It  was  democracy  coming  into  its  own. 

The  committee  of  arrangements  announced  that  there 
would  be  no  military  array  on  the  inauguration  day  but 
such  as  was  voluntary.  The  new  President  was  to  be 
"surrounded  by  no  praetorian  guard."  In  truth  the 
only  military  company  in  Washington  was  commanded 
by  an  Adams  office-holder,  who  refused  to  call  it  out  to 
grace  these  barbarians.  Two  companies  of  artillery 
were  hastily  formed  to  fire  salutes  as  the  President, 
escorted  by  the  Congressional  committee,  a  few  old 
Revolutionary  soldiers,  and  a  great  rabble,  went  from 
Gadsby's  to  the  Capitol.  Ten  thousand  people  "gave 
salutations"  when  he  appeared  on  the  eastern  portico 
of  the  building  to  read  his  very  brief  address.  They 
swept  away  like  whipcord  a  wire  cable  stretched  to 
keep  the  multitude  back  from  the  "privileged  class." 
Later,  amidst  more  salutes,  "Old  Hickory  "  was  escorted 
by  the  throng  to  his  future  place  of  residence. 


296          THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

That  night  came  the  reception.  For  hours  were  heard 
the  crash  of  glass  and  the  breaking  of  furniture  as  the 
crowd  surged  through  the  President's  mansion,  eager  to 
see  their  representative  in  possession  of  his  own.  A 
Massachusetts  man  said  :  "  I  never  saw  such  a  mixture. 
The  reign  of  King  MOB  seemed  triumphant.  I  was  glad 
to  escape  from  the  scene  as  soon  as  possible."  Not 
withstanding  the  warning  published  by  a  man  who  had 
lost  a  purse  of  $400  at  the  theatre  the  night  before,  the 
"  cut-purses  "  were  busy  and  but  few  arrested.  A  Jack 
son  newspaper  acknowledged,  ".At  the  Mansion  of  the 
President,  the  Sovereign  People  were  a  little  uproari 
ous,  indeed,  but  it  was  anything  but  a  malicious  spirit." 

The  next  day  a  heavy  rain  drove  away  some  of  the 
spectators,  but  many  remained.  They  thought  there 
ought  to  be  "  a  clean  sweep  "  of  the  office-holders  instead 
of  stopping  with  the  President.1  They  were  said  to  have 
"  flocked  here  in  crowds  in  the  vain  hope  of  reward  for 
services  which  they  believe  themselves  to  have  rendered 
during  the  campaign."  "  The  situation  of  the  Presi 
dent  himself  is  far  from  enviable."  Other  newspapers 
reported  that  the  office-seekers  intruded  upon  his  private 
hours  and  "  perforated  "  the  whole  of  his  mansion  to 
get  a  peep  at  him.2  Webster  pronounced  the  multitude 

1  The  Baltimore  Patriot  said   that  when  a  gentleman  apologized  for 
making  such  a  lengthy  call  on  the  President,  the  latter  replied, "  Sit  down, 
sir,  and  stay.     I  like  to  have  you.    You  are  the  first  man  who  has  come  to 
see  me  without  asking  for  an  office." 

2  "  Turn  out !  turn  out ! 

•     They  are  rogues  no  doubt; 

And  honest  men  and  true  are  come  to  put  them  all  to  rout. 

Why  the  d— 1  should  they  stay 

In  their  seats  a  single  day 

For  noble  fellows  like  ourselves  they  all  should  clear  away." 

—  The  Massachusetts  Journal,  1829. 


ANDREW  JA CKSON  297 

too  many  to  be  fed  without  a  miracle.  They  construed 
the  promise  of  reform  in  Jackson's  inaugural  address  to 
mean  turning  out  the  professional  office-holders.  "  The 
power  of  removal,"  said  a  Virginia  paper,  "  is  founded 
on  the  idea  that  no  radical  reform  of  abuses  of  the 
government  was  to  be  expected  from  gentlemen  who 
were  hacknied  in  the  abuses  of  office  and  opposed  to 
the  cause  of  Jackson  and  reform."  The  Jackson  organ 
in  Washington  promised  that  the  President  "  would 
reward  his  friends  and  punish  his  enemies."  1 

The  Adams  men  were  soon  in  a  panic.  They  had 
taken  comfort  from  a  resurrected  letter  from  Jackson  to 
Monroe  written  years  before  in  which  he  advised  against 
the  removal  of  officers.  At  a  farewell  dinner  given  to 
Clay  on  the  day  after  the  inauguration,  that  departing 
statesman  had  proposed  the  toast,  "  Let  us  never  despair 
of  the  American  Republic."  But  what  was  the  republic 
to  men  who  saw  the  political  guillotine  before  their  eyes  ? 
Fifteen. postmasters  were  dismissed  in  New  Hampshire 
in  ten  weeks ;  yet,  when  a  dismissed  clerk  in  Washing 
ton  committed  suicide,  a  New  Hampshire  newspaper 
said,  "  The  People  bid  the  Executioner  go  on  in  the 
good  work  of  reform  even  if  some  do  bleed  by  their 
own  hands." 

1  The  Central  Hickory  Club  summed  up  the  situation  from  its  stand 
point  in  a  circular  issued  in  1832  : 

When  Gen.  Jackson  came  into  power  there  were  in  office  in  this  city : 

Of  his  enemies  about 288 

Of  his  friends  about 71 

Majority  of  enemies 217 

At  the  end  of  1831,  the  relative  strength  of  parties  was  as  follows: 

Gen.  Jackson's  enemies 173 

His  friends 140 

Majority  of  enemies 33 


298          THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

Andrew  Jackson  has  always  borne  the  odium  of  the 
father  of  the  spoils  system,  but  a  larger  view  will  see 
that  system  as  a  result  of  this  democratic  revolution. 
To  say  that  Jackson  discovered  in  it  any  moral  wrong 
would  be  to  ascribe  to  this  old  Indian  fighter  a  sentiment 
of  to-day  which  has  taken  years  to  build  up  and  is  held 
only  by  the  highest  civic  type.  His  standard,  as  formed 
by  his  war  training,  was  embodied  later  in  the  immortal 
saying  of  Marcy,  "  To  the  victor  belong  the  spoils." 
With  such  men  in  power,  personal  encounters  were  not 
uncommon.  The  general  rule  was  to  employ  fists  for 
ruffians  and  the  duel  for  gentlemen.  The  practice  of 
"  posting  "  men  by  handbills  was  not  uncommon.1 

Jackson  never  contemplated  himself  in  the  role 
assumed  by  Jefferson  —  the  political  saviour  of  his  coun 
try  ;  but  he  had 
"  been  called  forth 
reluctantly  to  re 
form  the  abuses 
under  which  his 
people  labored." 
Whenever  he 


To  tlie  Public. 

I  publish  (MiK-ml  IH'FF 
GREEN  to  Hit*  world,  as  a 
Scoundrel .;uni  t\  C'ricunl. 


n  %T*O\  %II:ISH. 

Of  \««»  York. 

he  would  destroy 
it.  He  s'oon  found 
one  in  the  second 

United  States  bank.  Adopted  by  Congress  at  the  close 
of  the  war  of  1812  to  restore  the  national  finances, 
and  chartered  for  twenty  years,  this  great  corporation, 
on  a  first  capital  of  $35,000,000,  earned  more  than 
$3,000,000  annually.  Its  headquarters  were  located 

1  Two  of  these  handbills  are  shown  in  illustrations  in  this  chapter. 


ANDREW  JA  CKSON  299 

in  Philadelphia,  with  twenty-five  branch  banks  in 
various  cities,  employing  over  five  hundred  people. 
Its  bank-notes  were  accepted  at  par  the  country  over. 
Jackson  had  known  little  about  the  bank  until  a  quar 
rel  concerning  the  appointment  of  its  officers  reached 
him.  Now  a  bank  is  always  an  object  of  suspicion 
among  the  masses  of  the  people,  and  the  methods  of 
the  banker  are  always  suspected.  Those  who  have 
not  the  faculty  of  making  money  suspect  those  who 
have.  In  his  second  message,  Jackson  raised  the  in 
quiry  whether  the  United  States  could  not  manage  a 
bank  exclusively  and  get  all  the  profits  where  it  now 
held  one-fifth  the  stock  and  received  only  that  share 
of  the  profits.  Three  times  in  as  many  annual  mes 
sages  this  suggestion  was  made. 

In  1832,  Clay  brought  before  Congress  a  petition  for 
rechartering  the  bank,  although  it  had  four  years  yet  to 
run.  It  must  have  time  to  close  up  its  affairs,  he  said, 
if  this  hostile  suggestion  of  the  President  should  be 
adopted.  Immediately  the  Jackson  men  brought  for 
ward  twenty-two  charges  against  the  bank,  chiefly  of 
using  undue  influence  in  the  national  and  state  legis 
latures,  and  of  accommodating  politicians  with  loans. 
Nevertheless  the  bill  to  recharter  passed  both  houses, 
but  was  vetoed  by  the  President  on  the  ground  that  it 
was  a  monopoly.  "  Many  of  our  rich  men  have  not 
been  content  with  equal  protection  and  equal  benefits, 
but  have  besought  us  to  make  them  richer  by  the  act 
of  Congress."  It  was  the  old  Jeffersonian  protest 
against  privilege  legislation. 

Once  aroused  against  the  bank,  the  wrath  of  Jackson 
knew  no  bounds.  He  paid  his  bills  in  gold  instead  of 


300 


THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 


United  States  bank-notes,  and  his  followers  aroused  fur 
ther  distrust  by  calling  constant  attention  to  the  ninety- 
five  counterfeit  bank-bills  which  had  been  detected. 
The  President  now  ordered  the  receivers  of  the  public 
money  to  make  no  further  deposits  with  the  branches 
of  the  bank  and  to  draw  out  whatever  remained  of  the 
$8,000,000  annually  deposited.  He  also  deprived  the 


CIT1T  OF 
NEW-YORK 


Of  >o.  .»7,  I' r:uik I in-v( ,,,-(, 


"  POSTING  "  AN  ENEMY 


United  States  bank  of  distributing  the  pension  money. 
But  the  United  States  continued  to  receive  money  and 
there  was  no  place  to  put  it.  A  treasury  in  a  treasury 
building  had  not  yet  been  thought  of.  Why  not  let  the 
smaller  banks  throughout  the  country,  those  which  could 
with  difficulty  compete  with  the  great  monopoly,  have 
the  use  of  this  money  ? 

The  banks  thus  chosen  were  immediately  named 
"  Jackson's  pet  banks."  Under  their  unexpected  for 
tune,  they  began  to  speculate.  Jackson  detested  paper 


ANDREW  JACKSON 


301 


money,  but  his  action  brought  out  a  flood  of  it.  Banks 
sprang  up  like  mushrooms.1  From  1834  to  1836  the 
banking  capital  increased  $81,000,000.  The  reaction 
was  sure  to  come,  arid  it  brought  the  panic  of  1837. 
Even  this  was  precipitated  by  the  President  issuing  an 
arbitrary  order  that  the  land  offices  should  refuse  to 
accept  anything  save  specie  in  payment  for  the  public 
lands.  This  panic  Jackson  bequeathed  to  his  protege, 
Van  Buren,  with  the  presidency. 

The    disastrous   results    of    this  meddling  with   the 
national  bank  brought  no  discredit  to  the  President  in 


MEDAL  ON  JACKSON  DESTROYING  THE  BANK 

the  opinion  of  his  followers.  They  thanked  God  that 
he  knew  nothing  of  finance  since  then  he  would  be 
honest  with  them.  But  the  affair  formed  such  an 
example  of  amateur  juggling  with  national  finances  that 
no  one  has  since  dared  to  repeat  it.  The  chief  Executive 
had  learned  a  lesson. 

1  This  stanza  was  copied  extensively  in  the  opposition  papers : 
"  He  managed  the  people,  he  governed  the  Banks; 
And  played  while  in  office  all  sorts  of  queer  pranks; 
He  killed  the  old  monster,  and  then  with  a  grin, 
He  got  many  little  ones  of  the  same  kin." 


302          THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

As  will  be  described  in  the  next  chapter,  the  always 
smouldering  contest  on  the  relative  power  of  the  state 
and  national  governments  had  broken  forth  under  Jack 
son.  It  was,  to  a  certain  extent,  made  possible  by  the 
defeat  of  the  New  Englanders  or  Adams  men  and  the 
election  of  Jackson.  The  triumphant  southerners 
wished  to  reap  advantage  of  their  victory  and  bring 
the  national  government  back  to  its  restricted  origin. 
Opportunity  was  given  in  the  tariff  legislation  which 
had  imposed  higher  duties  on  coarse  stuffs,  such  as 
clothing  for  slaves,  until  it  was  felt  in  the  south  to  be 
unbearable,  and  received  the  title,  "  the  tariff  of  abomi 
nations." 

The  state  of  South  Carolina,  the  state  of  Calhoun  and 
Hayne,  took  the  lead  and  prepared  to  resist  the  collec 
tion  of  the  duty  in  its  ports.  The  action  was  grounded 
by  Calhoun  in  a  doctrine  foreshadowed  by  the  Vir 
ginia  and  Kentucky  resolutions  of  1798-99,  but  now 
elaborated  into  a  specific  remedy.  "  When  the  United 
States  government  transcends  the  powers  given  to  it  by 
the  states,  any  state  has  the  right  to  declare  such  law 
null  and  void  and  forbid  its  enforcement  within  her 
borders."  Calhoun  and  his  followers  in  "nullification" 
wished  to  trace  this  doctrine  back  to  Jefferson,  the 
father  of  democracy.  The  election  of  Jackson  recalled 
Jefferson  afresh  to  the  public  mind.  He  had  died  only 
three  years  before.  New  editions  of  his  writings  were 
published.  His  library  was  being  sold  at  auction  in 
Washington  when  Jackson  was  inaugurated. 

A  great  celebration  of  his  birthday  was  planned  for 
the  dining  room  of  the  "  Indian  Queen  "  in  Washington, 
April  13,  1830.  The  guests  assembled  at  five  o'clock 


ANDREW  JACKSON 


303 


and  found  a  list  of  twenty-four  toasts.  The  fourth  was 
indicative  of  the  spirit  running  through  the  whole  : 
"  The  Kentucky  Resolutions  of  '98  :  drawn  by  the  same 


EXPOSITION 


BY  THE  SPECIAL  COMMITTEE 


THE  TARIFF; 


SOUTH  CAROLINA  TARIFF  PAMPHLET 


hand  which  drew  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  a 
practical  illustration  of  Jefferson's  republican  principles, 
and  a  correct  definition  of  the  relative  powers  of  the 
State  and  Federal  governments."  In  a  later  toast  the 


304          THE  MEN  WHO  MADE   THE  NATION 

action  of  Governor  Troup,  of  Georgia,  in  resisting 
the  United  States  government  in  the  case  of  the  Ind 
ians,  was  linked  with  the  Resolutions  of  '98,  "  He  planted 
upon  her  borders  the  standard  of  States'  Rights." 

President  Jackson  arrived  at  the  beginning  of  the 
banquet  and  sat  through  the  regular  toasts  and  speeches. 
As  a  native  of  South  Carolina,  he  was  supposed  to  be  in 
sympathy  with  the  sentiment  of  the  occasion.  Thirty 
years  before  he  had  written  to  a  candidate:  "  Have  you 
always  been  an  admirer  of  State  authorities  ?  Will  you 
banish  the  dangerous  doctrine  of  implication  ? "  But  he 
was  now  the  President  of  the  United  States  and  had 
taken  an  oath  to  execute  its  laws  and  support  its  au 
thority.  One  may  imagine  the  increasing  wrath  with 
which  he  heard  through  the  four  hours  of  the  regular 
toasts  and  speeches  these  attacks  upon  the  power  he 
represented,  and  one  may  image  the  satisfaction  he  felt 
when  called  upon  for  the  first  volunteer  toast.  Every 
ear  was  strained.  The  promoters  of  the  banquet,  who 
hoped  to  commit  the  chief  executive  to  an  approval  of 
the  resistance  of  South  Carolina,  expected  such  a  senti 
ment  as,  "  South  Carolina  :  may  the  Federal  Union 
under  the  principles  of  '98,  remember  the  rights  of  a 
sovereign  state."  1  But  upon  the  astonished  listeners 
fell  the  words,  "  Our  Federal  Union :  it  must  be  pre 
served." 

Perhaps  no  one  was  more  surprised  than  Calhoun,  but 
none  was  less  daunted.  Called  upon  as  Vice-President 
for  the  second  volunteer  toast,  he  gave,  "  The  Union : 

1  In  December,  1829,  at  a  dinner  in  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  this 
toast  was  "drunk  with  cheers":  "The  President  and  Vice-President  of 
the  United  States :  South  Carolina  gave  them  to  the  Union  for  the  com 
mon  benefit;  she  hopes  everything  from  their  wisdom  and  patriotism." 


ANDREW  JACKSON  305 

next  to  our  liberty  the  most  dear ;  may  we  all  remember 
that  it  can  only  be  preserved  by  respecting  the  rights 
of  the  States  and  distributing  equally  the  benefit  and 
burden  of  the  Union."  Here  was  the  essence  of  the 
doctrine  of  nullification.  A  Virginian  also  offered  the 
sentiment,  "  Our  Federal  Union  must  be  preserved,  by 
doing  equal  justice  to  all  its  parts." 

The  President  departed  soon  after  his  toast,  the  Penn- 
sylvanians  followed,  and  many  others  withdrew  to  the 
anterooms  to  discuss  the  unfortunate  incident,  but  the 
banquet  continued  until  near  morning,  the  account  fill 
ing  the  unusual  space  of  eleven  newspaper  columns. 

The  opposition  editors  claimed  that  the  President's 
toast  was  a  challenge  to  the  nullificationists.  "  It  was 
as  much  as  to  say,  '  You  may  complain  of  the  tariff  and 
perhaps  with  reason ;  but  so  long  as  it  is  the  law  it 
shall  as  certainly  be  maintained  as  that  my  name  is 
ANDREW  JACKSON.'  "  No  one  who  knew  the  stubborn 
nature  of  Jackson  could  doubt  that.  Nevertheless,  Cal- 
houn  persisted,  and  South  Carolina  passed  a  nullification 
ordinance.  Governor  Hayne  made  a  vow  to  resist  "  if 
the  sacred  soil  of  Carolina  should  be  polluted  by  the 
footsteps  of  an  invader."  Buttons  bearing  a  palmetto 
tree  appeared  by  thousands,  and  medals  were  struck 
bearing  the  words,  "  John  C.  Calhoun,  First  President 
of  the  Southern  Confederacy."  There  was  already  one 
President,  and  he  was  the  President  of  the  United 
States.  There  was  no  room  for  two.  On  his  death-bed 
he  is  said  to  have  lamented  his  dereliction  in  not  hang 
ing  the  other  "president"  as  a  "traitor."  However 
much  a  southern  man  or  states'  rights  man,  he  was 
above  all  the  President.  He  ordered  the  revenue  col- 


306 


THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 


lectors  in  South  Carolina  to  employ  gunboats  if  neces 
sary  to  collect  the  duties  under  the  tariff,  quietly  sent 
the  general  of  the  army,  Scott,  to  Charleston,  and 
shifted  land  and  naval  forces  to  have  all  in  readiness. 

He  likened  the 
situation  to  a  bag 
of  meal  open  at 
both  ends.  "Pick 
it  up  in  the  mid 
dle  or  endwise, 
and  it  will  run 
out.  I  must  tie 
the  bag  and  save 
the  country."  To 
the  same  listener1 
he  said,  "  Dale, 
they  are  trying 
me  here  ;  you  will 
witness  it ;  but 
by  the  God  of 
heaven,  I  will  up 
hold  the  laws." 
Yet  he  tempered 
his  measures  with 
a  proclamation  to 
South  Carolina 
beginning,  "  Fel 
low-citizens  of  my  native  state,"  in  which  he  appealed 
to  them  not  to  incur  the  odium  of  treason  by  resisting 
the  execution  of  the  laws. 

The  effect   in   the  northern  states  was  magical.     A 

1  See  the  Autobiography  of  Gen.  Nathan  Dale. 


UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA. 


PROCLAMATION 


PRESIDENT  or  THE  UNITED  STATES, 


WASHINGTON.  DEC.  10r»,  IBM. 


Uonaon: 

JOHN   MILLER,  HENRIETTA    STREET, 


COPY  OF  JACKSON'S  SOUTH  CAROLINA 
PROCLAMATION 


ANDREW  JACKSON  307 

southern  man,  a  borderer,  a  man  never  in  touch  with 
centralizing  tendencies,  Jackson  had  quickened  the 
national  feeling  as  had  not  been  done  since  the  days  of 
Hamilton.  Union  meetings  were  held  in  various  cities, 
and  the  section  formerly  at  enmity  with  Jackson  sud 
denly  became  his  supporter. 

Certain  ones  who  indulge  in  conjecture  are  inclined 
to  believe  that  if  Jackson  had  been  allowed  to  bring  to  a 
close  this  contest  with  his  native  state,  the  country 
might  have  been  spared  a  later  experience  with  nulli 
fication  and  its  offspring  —  secession.  But  Clay,  the 
great  pacificator,  came  forward,  with  a  mathematical 
compromise  by  which  the  objectionable  tariff  was  scaled 
down  gradually  for  ten  years,  and  the  contest  was  be 
queathed  to  posterity.  South  Carolina,  however,  never 
forgot  the  "  Force  bill  "  passed  to  give  power  to  the  Pres 
ident,  and  she  patiently  bided  her  time  for  nearly  thirty 
years  until  she  found  herself  sufficiently  supported  to 
attempt  secession. 

Perhaps  the  good  feeling  so  unexpectedly  manifested 
in  New  England  toward  the  President  persuaded  him  to 
listen  to  an  invitation  which  came  to  him  in  March,  1833. 
"  The  Republican  citizens  of  Boston  would  feel  proud 
to  exhibit  to  the  victor  at  New  Orleans  the  plains  of 
Lexington  and  the  trenches  of  Bunker  Hill."  There 
was  no  political  reason  why  the  President  should  further 
endanger  his  feeble  health  by  touring  the  country.  He 
had  been  triumphantly  inaugurated  for  a  second  term. 
Some  thought  his  purpose  was  to  exhibit  the  "  heir 
apparent,"  Van  Buren,  who  was  to  accompany  the 
party;  others  imagined  the  old  war  hero  coveted  a 
revenge  in  thus  penetrating  the  enemy's  country,  con- 


308 


THE  MEN  WHO  MADE   THE  NATION 


'•<;-.•"  piu  ck  on«. 


fident  of  winning  their  hearts  as  he  had  won  others  by 
the  charm  of  his  personality.  In  the  political  campaigns, 
he  had  been  caricatured  by  his  enemies  in  the  eastern 

states  until  people  were  pre 
pared  to  believe  anything 
about  him.  "  Captivating 
as  he  renders  himself  with 
his  bandanna  handkerchief, 
his  frock  coat,  his  amiable 
condescensions  and  the  fas 
cination  of  his  barroom  and 
public  talk,"  said  one  news 
paper.  Opposed  to  this  de 
scription  was  an  item  which 
went  the  rounds  of  the  press 
written  from  Washington  at 
the  time  of  the  inaugura 
tion,  describing  him  "  not 
the  tall,  muscular,  rawboned, 
weather-beaten,  and  stern-looking  soldier.  He  is  not 
much  if  any  above  middle  size,  of  rather  weak  and  deli 
cate  form,  very  thin  flesh,  not  erect  or  commanding  in 
figure.  His  eyes  are  dim  or  weeping  and  obscured  by 
spectacles.  In  his  dress  he  is  exceedingly  plain  — 
rather  negligent.  In  his  manners,  he  is  courteous  and 
engaging.  He  would  be  taken  for  a  Tennessee  Farmer 
rather  than  the  Chief  Magistrate  of  a  Republic." 

In  May,  the  "  Grand  Cavalcade "  started  for  Balti 
more.1  As  it  moved  from  city  to  city,  day  after  day 
brought  out  the  flags,  the  processions,  the  banners,  the 


,,.  Cripple.! 
ratic  Ticket. 


FOR  PRESIDENT,    ! 

•flartin  F Vm  iluren. 

FOR  VICE  PRESIDENT, 

RICHARD    M.  JOHNSON; 

OHIO  ELKCTOMt. 

JOHN  M.  GOODENOW, 
OTHNIEL  LOOKER, 
JACOB  FELTER; 
JAMES  B.  CAMERON*  . 
DAVID  S.  DAVIS,-  «* 

JAMES   FIFE,  j^      ' 


ELECTORAL  TICKET  OF  1836 


1  Two  of  the  many  cartoons  put  forth  on  the  tour  are  reproduced  on 
pages  309  and  313.     They  are  in  the  Library  of  Congress. 


3IO         THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

thousands  struggling  to  reach  the  hand  of  the  people's 
President.  In  the  old  Independence  Hall  at  Phila 
delphia,  he  was  obliged  to  recline  on  a  couch  whilst  a 
multitude  still  struggled  to  get  the  coveted  hand-shake. 
So  great  became  the  crush,  that  some  leaped  from  the 
windows  for  safety.  The  venerable  Bishop  White,  chap 
lain  of  the  old  Continental  Congress,  struggled  with  the 
crowd  to  pay  his  respects,  but  retired  defeated. 

The  Adams  papers  much  lamented  this  exhibition  of 
sycophancy,  this  "almost  man  worship."  One  said, 
"  Many  a  time  did  President  Adams  arrive  at  our 
wharves  unannounced  and  walk  up  from  the  wharf 
almost  unattended,  like  any  other  citizen  of  the  repub 
lic."  But  Adams  was  not  democracy's  hero.  The 
friendly  newspapers  said  that  Jackson's  hand  grasp 
was  something  more  than  Mr.  Adams's  "  pump-handle 
shake." 

Whenever  possible,  Jackson  rode  on  horseback  in  the 
processions.  In  Philadelphia,  for  five  hours  he  was  in 
the  saddle,  and  even  the  opposition  newspapers  admitted 
that  he  was  a  "superb  horseman."  At  New  York, 
"  many  persons  did  not  scruple  to  run  between  the  legs 
of  the  prancing  animal  at  the  imminent  risk  of  being 
trodden  down  so  that  they  might  grasp  the  hand  of 
their  beloved  President  or  even  touch  the  hem  of  his 
garments."  The  bedstead  in  which  he  slept  was  sup 
ported  by  four  marble  columns  with  a  mirror  at  each 
corner.  The  counterpane  and  pillow  cases  were  made 
of  figured  white  satin,  trimmed  with  silver  fringe. 
"  Nothing  is  too  good  for  the  man  who  saved  our 
country." 

As  he  entered  New  England  a  cooler  air  was  encoun^ 


BORN  TO  COMMAND 


ANDRUW  THE  FIRST. 


A  CARTOON  OF  THE  CAMPAIGN  OF  1832 


312          THE  MEN"  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION' 

tered.  A  Boston  newspaper  congratulated  the  people 
because  they  had  made  "no  such  ridiculous  or  servile 
exhibitions  of  sycophancy  as  at  Philadelphia  and  New 
York."  It  thought  there  was  too  much  military  display 
for  a  civic  officer.  But  civic  display  was  not  wanting. 
As  the  President  entered  Providence  "  mounted  on  a 
beautiful  white  palfrey,"  he  rode  under  arches  made  of 
hickory  boughs.  As  he  approached  Norwich,  a  young 
lady  placed  a  wreath  of  roses  on  his  head.  At  Lowell, 
three  thousand  young  women,  operatives  in  the  mills, 
dressed  in  white  and  wearing  different  colored  sashes, 
formed  an  escort.  School  children  were  drawn  up  at 
the  roadside  to  see  the  President  pass  by.  In  Boston, 
the  "  girls  in  white  dresses  and  the  boys  in  white  under 
clothes  and  dark  jackets  "  waited  in  the  churches  for 
hours  to  form  a  procession.  One  lad  is  said  to  have 
burst  into  tears  on  beholding  the  object  of  their  atten 
tions  because  he  was  only  a  man. 

Throughout  Jackson  displayed  that  gentleness  and 
courtesy  so  inconsistent  with  the  stories  of  his  cruelty 
and  revengeful  spirit.  Instead  of  devouring  children, 
as  some  imagined  this  southwestern  ogre  would  do,  he 
kissed  them  and  presented  gold  pieces  to  the  proud 
mothers,  according  to  the  newspaper  accounts.  To  a 
woman  who  had  walked  from  Germantown  to  Phila 
delphia  to  see  him  and  had  been  accorded  a  private 
view,  he  was  quoted  as  saying,  "  My  dear  woman,  had  I 
known  it,  I  would  cheerfully  have  met  you  halfway." 
He  tarried  in  New  Haven  over  Sunday,  attending  the 
Trinity  Church  service  in  the  forenoon,  the  North  Pres 
byterian  in  the  afternoon,  and  the  Methodist  in  the 
evening.  His  horsemanship  won  especially  the  hearts 


ANDREW  JACKSON 


313 


of  the  ladies.  "  He  completely  eclipsed  all  the  young 
sparks  on  the  review,"  wrote  a  Boston  reporter.  "  He 
sat  on  his  horse  as  though  he  had  been  a  part  of  the 
animal,  waving  his  hat  on  either  side  as  he  passed  the 
multitude." 

New  England  and  the  higher  class  of  the  north 
generally  were  receiving  not  democracy's  hero  but  the 
President  who  had  scotched  "  nullification."  He  was 
not  allowed  to  forget  this  fact.  He  rode  under  banner 


CARTOON  ON  JACKSON'S  TOUR 

after  banner  bearing  his  famous  toast,  "  The  Union :  it 
must  be  preserved,"  or,  "  The  Union :  it  must  and  shall 
be  preserved."  1  The  governor  of  Massachusetts  referred 
in  his  address  to  "that  National  Sovereignty  and  Inde 
pendence  which  you  so  valiantly  defended  when  assailed 
by  Foreign  Foes  and  that  Union  under  the  Constitution 
which  .  .  .  you  no  less  triumphantly  asserted  on  a  late 

1  In  the  official  account  of  the  banquet,  the  toast  of  Jackson  was 
worded  as  given  on  page  304.  In  many  other  accounts  the  latter  part 
was  changed  to  "  It  must  and  shall  be  preserved." 


314          THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

memorable  occasion  against  internal  Disaffection  and 
Disloyalty''  Human  nature  could  not  be  proof  against 
such  adulation.  When  the  spokesman  for  the  select 
men  of  Roxbury  closed  his  welcome  with  the  sentiment, 

"  And  may  his  powerful  arm  long  remain  nerved 
Who  said  The  UNION  —  it  must  be  preserved," 

the  general  was  said  to  have  replied  most  emphatically, 
"  It  shall  be  preserved,  Sir,  as  long  as  there  is  a  nerve 
in  it" 

This  prolonged  excitement  soon  told  on  a  body  en 
feebled  by  arduous  Indian  campaigns.  The  President 
was  able  to  visit  Bunker  Hill,  where  the  details  of  the 
battle  were  described  to  him,  and  he  was  presented  with 
"two  harmless  memorials  of  the  i/th  of  June,  encased 
in  a  box."  But  because  of  illness  he  had  to  forego 
Lexington,  the  docking  of  the  Constitution,  and  a  con 
clave  of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Masons,  to  which  order 
Jackson  was  devotedly  attached.  Leaving  Boston  after 
several  days'  illness,  he  reached  Portsmouth,  New  Hamp 
shire,  where  he  was  presented  some  goods  woven  from 
the  cotton  grown  on  his  own  plantation.  From  this 
point  word  came  that  the  tour  was  abandoned  and  that 
the  President  was  hastening  home  by  the  quickest  route. 

Various  rumors  arose.  Some  said  he  was  disgusted 
with  the  strife  between  his  own  party  men,  who  thought 
they  had  a  monopoly  on  him,  and  the  general  populace, 
who  had  been  won  by  his  personality  and  now  wished 
to  do  him  honor.  The  administration  newspaper  at 
Washington  when  he  reached  home  said  that  he  feared 
further  exposure  to  the  northeast  winds.  The  opposi 
tion  hinted  that  he  had  become  alarmed  at  the  feeling 


ANDREW  JA  CKSON  3 1 5 

aroused  among  his  old  friends  in  the  south  and  west  by 
this  flirting  with  the  enemy.  A  Richmond  paper  longed 
for  the  days  of  a  real  democratic  President  like  Jefferson, 
who  when  he  had  occasion  to  go  to  the  Capitol,  went 
alone,  attired  in  his  red  breeches  and  white  waistcoat, 
and  tied  his  horse  at  the  rack.  "  Imagine  him  like  his 
snobbish  successor,  making  a  tour  through  his  provinces, 
aping  the  fashions  of  European  potentates,  surrounded 
by  courtiers  and  dependants."  Jackson's  triumphal 
tour  was  compared  with  the  contemporary  progress  of 
George  IV.  to  Dublin  and  Edinburgh.  But  his  greatest 
offence  was  in  accepting  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Laws 
from  that  hotbed  of  aristocracy  and  Federalism  — 
Harvard  College. 

His  defenders  pointed  to  a  similar  honor  conferred 
upon  President  Monroe,  but  the  critics  replied  that 
Monroe  was  a  college  man  and  deserved  it.  Jackson 
had  never  before  seen  the  outside  of  a  college.  How 
could  he  reply  to  the  President's  Latin  address  as  was 
customary  ?  Indeed,  this  part  of  the  ceremony  caused 
much  conjecture.  It  was  rumored  that,  as  in  so  many 
instances,  the  President  would  rise  to  the  occasion. 
Major  Jack  Downing  said  that  he  nodded  his  head  to 
the  address,  but  possibly  at  the  wrong  time  since  some 
of  the  students  tittered.  It  was  agreed  that  he  made 
no  response  save  a  bow.1 

1  "Major  Jack  Downing"  (Seba  Smith),  in  his  burlesque  description 
of  the  tour,  wrote  that  at  Cambridge  some  students  took  him  into  an  adja 
cent  room  and  conferred  on  him  the  degree  of  A.S.S.,  which  they  assured 
him  stood  for  "  amazin'  smart  skolar."  A  counterfeit  Major  described  the 
President  visiting  Downingville.  "  '  You  must  gin  'em  a  little  Lattin,  Doc 
tor,'  says  I.  Here  he  off  hat  agin  and  says,  '  E  pluribus  unum,'  says  he, 
*  my  friends  —  sine  qua  non ! '  " 


THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 


However,  said  the  opposition,  the  degree  of  Doctor  of 
Laws  may  not  be  so  inconsistent,  because  the  President 
is  so  very  fond  of  doctoring  the  laws.  A  South  Carolina 
newspaper  denounced  "the  triumphal  entry  of  General 
Blowblubber  and  his  kitchen  cabinet  among  the  lick 
spittles  of  the  North — a  sorry  scene  of  mutual  degrada 
tion."  A  toast  was  offered  in  the  same  state  — 

"  Let  slaves  bow  down  and  kiss  his  toes 
Freeman  defy  —  and  pull  his  nose."  J 


LAWRENCE'S  ATTACK  ON  JACKSON 

Colonel  David  Crockett,  of  Tennessee,  who  had  served 
under  the  General  in  the  Indian  wars,  insisted  upon  the 

1  Lieutenant  Randolph,  a  dismissed  naval  officer,  once  tried  to  pull 
Jackson's  nose.  A  lithograph  of  the  attempt  of  Richard  Lawrence  to 
shoot  the  President  is  preserved  in  the  museum  of  the  Pennsylvania 
Historical  Society.  Jackson  refused  to  believe  that  he  was  insane  but 
suspected  a  political  motive  for  the  act. 


ANDREW  JA  CKSON  3 1 7 

floor  of  Congress,  that  he  had  been  a  Jackson  man  until 
Jackson  had  turned  into  a  Van  Buren  man.  In  a  speech 
in  Philadelphia  he  told  "  the  story  of  the  red  cow," 
justifying  his  desertion  of  the  ex-Democrat. *  When 
Crockett  reached  Boston,  he  refused  to  visit  "  Cam 
bridge  where  the  big  college  or  university  is ;  where 
they  keep  ready-made  titles  or  nicknames  to  give  peo 
ple.  .  .  .  There  had  been  one  doctor  made  from  Ten 
nessee  already,  and  I  had  no  wish  to  put  on  the  cap  and 
bells." 

Perhaps  the  gain  in  new  constituency  would  have  off 
set  the  loss  of  the  old  if  opportunity  had  been  given  of 
testing  it  in  a  third  election.  Certainly  Jackson  is  the 
one  President  upon  whom  opinion  is  unanimous  as  to 
the  possibility  of  a  third  term  if  he  had  so  desired  it. 
His  refusal  assured  the  permanence  of  the  limitation 
established  by  common  consent.  His  nomination  had 
been  a  rebuke  to  the  professional  office-holding  in  the 
nation ;  his  election  was  a  return  of  power  to  the  peo 
ple  ;  his  interference  with  the  national  finances  was  a 
deterring  example  ;  his  attitude  toward  nullification  was 
the  temporary  salvation  of  the  Union,  although  he  after 
wards  tried  to  explain  it  away  ;  his  triumphal  tour  was 
a  fortunate  harmonizing  of  the  lower  and  the  upper,  the 
newer  and  the  older  classes,  which  healed  the  breach 
otherwise  likely  to  result  from  the  political  revolt  of  the 
people  in  his  election. 

1  A  farmer,  teaching  his  son  to  plough,  told  him  to  plough  across  the 
field  to  the  red  cow.  "  He  kept  a  ploughing  and  she  kept  a  walking  all 
day,  and  at  night  they  had  the  worst  looking  field  you  ever  saw.  I  fol 
lowed  Jackson  as  long  as  he  went  straight,  but  when  he  began  to  go  this 
and  that  way,  I  wouldn't  follow  him  any  longer. " 


CHAPTER    X 

DANIEL  WEBSTER,  THE    DEFENDER  OF   THE  CONSTITUTION 

So  fallen  !  so  lost  !  the  light  withdrawn 

Which  once  he  wore  ! 
The  glory  from  his  gray  hairs  gone 

Forevermore  ! 

—  WHITTIER  ON  WEBSTER,  1850 

Thou  shouldst  have  lived  to  feel  below 
Thy  feet  Disunion's  fierce  upthrow,  — 
No  stronger  voice  than  thine  had  then 
Called  out  the  utmost  might  of  men, 
Breaking  the  spell  about  the  wound 
Like  the  green  withes  that  Samson  bound  ; 
Redeeming  in  one  effort  grand, 
Thyself  and  thy  imperilled  land  ! 

—  WHITTIER  ON  WEBSTER,  1861. 

THE  middle  period  of  national  growth  had  now  been 
reached,  when  it  was  possible  to  recognize  certain 
Union-making  elements.  The  consent  of  Washington 
to  assume  the  leadership,  the*  show  of  national  force 
in  putting  down  the  "whiskey  rebellion,"  and  gratitude 
toward  the  central  government  for  paying  the  Revolu 
tionary  debts  of  the  respective  states  had  a  fitting  close 
in  the  voluntary  retirement  of  the  war  hero  and  the 
peaceful  inauguration  of  his  successor.  Part  of  the 
revenue  collected  by  the  national  government  had  been 
spent  by  it  in  improving  means  of  communication  and 

318 


DANIEL    WEBSTER  319 

providing  for  the  safety  of  commerce.  Jefferson's  elec 
tion  gave  the  masses  a  confidence  that  they  were  not 
to  be  barred  from  power  in  the  Union.  His  purchase 
of  Louisiana  and  his  coercion  during  the  embargo,  no 
less  than  his  suppression  of  Burr's  expedition,  strength 
ened  the  power  whose  encroachment  he  so  much  feared. 
Burr's  fiasco  settled  forever  the  possibility  of  a  division 
of  the  Union  between  east  and  west  along  the  line  of 
the  dividing  mountains. 

The  pride  of  the  people  in  the  city  of  Washington, 
although  the  capital  grew  very  slowly,  could  not  be 
ignored.  It  was  the  independent  seat  of  an  indepen 
dent  government,  under  neither  the  jurisdiction  nor  the 
protection  of  any  state.1  In  it  the  highest  court  of  the 
nation  sat,  giving  decision  after  decision  which  declared 
the  supremacy  of  the  Union  over  the  states  in  the 
unexpressed  powers.2  The  national  government  was 
visible  to  the  people  in  the  branches  of  the  two  United 
States  banks,3  and  in  the  tariffs  on  imported  goods  which 
Congress  changed  from  time  to  time  at  will. 

Many  of  these  actions  of  the  central  power  were 
undoubtedly  departures  from  the  thoughts  of  the  fathers 
when  they  conjectured  the  future  scope  of  the  Federal 
agency.  Yet  the  fathers  could  not  possibly  have  imag 
ined  the  development  of  the  country,  the  expansion  of 

1  This  was  due  to  the  foresight  of  the  framers  of  the  Constitution.    (Art. 
I.,  Sec.  8,  Par.  17.)     A  lithograph  (1848)  is  reproduced  on  the  next  page. 

2  These  "  formative  cases  "  may  be  studied  in  the  Supreme  Court  reports 
and  in  any  constitutional  history.     The  principal  ones  of  the  early  period 
are  :    McColloch  vs.  Maryland,  Chisolm  vs.  Georgia,  Fletcher  vs.  Peck, 
United  States  vs.  Peters,  and  Marbury  vs.  Madison. 

3  The  first  bank  existed  from  1791  to  1811;   the  second,  from  1816  to 
1836.     They  were  joint  stock  enterprises,  in  which  the- United  States  was  a* 
shareholder. 


DANIEL   WEBSTER  321 

territory  and  population,  and  the  increase  of  trade, 
which  had  made  these  departures  necessary  and  caused 
them  to  be  supported  by  a  majority  of  the  people. 
That  they  should  cause  alarm  was  very  natural ;  that 
a  protest  was  demanded  equally  so.  South  Carolina, 
noting  the  increasing  number  of  her  homes  deserted  by 
emigrants  to  the  western  country,  and  ascribing  the 
cause  to  the  withdrawal  of  capital  under  the  burden  of 
the  high  tariff,  had  assumed  the  leadership  once  held  by 
Virginia,  and  inaugurated  resistance  to  the  tariff-mak 
ing  power.  Calhoun  became  her  spokesman.  He  was 
not  a  large  slave  owner  and  would  not  be  heavily 
oppressed  by  the  tariff,  but  he  gave  himself  up  to  his 
state  and  to  the  southern  slavery  interests,  although 
thereby  he  endangered  his  chances  of  national  prefer 
ment  through  the  increasing  strength  of  the  anti-slavery 
sentiment.  To  meet  this  danger  threatening  his  South 
Carolina  as  well  as  the  other  states,  he  revived  and 
formulated  more  clearly  the  nullification  doctrine  of  the 
Kentucky  resolutions  of  1799,  as  described  in  a  pre 
ceding  chapter.1 

This  increasing  power  of  the  national  government 
being  once  recognized  and  its  danger  realized,  the 
original  intent  of  the  founders  as  well  as  the  nature  of 
the  Constitution  itself  was  sure  to  be  discussed  in  the 
debates  in  Congress.  It  was  precipitated  most  unex 
pectedly  in  the  Senate  in  December,  1829,  through  a 
resolution  offered  by  Foote,  of  Connecticut,  that  inquiry 
should  be  made  as  to  the  advisability  of  offering  for 
sale  any  more  of  the  public  lands  until  more  of  the  sev 
enty-two  million  acres  already  surveyed  and  offered  had 

Y  i  In  Chapter  VIL 


DANIEL    WEBSTER  323 

been  sold.  Benton,  of  Missouri,  the  accepted  champion 
of  the  western  lands,  replied  that  the  unsold  land  was 
largely  refuse  and  swamp ;  that  settlers  should  be 
encouraged  by  opening  new  lands ;  that  only  in  this 
way  could  the  best  blood  be  secured  for  the  new  coun 
try.  In  the  second  week  of  the  general  debate  on  this 
question,  Senator  Hayne,  of  South  Carolina,  the  recog 
nized  spokesman  of  Calhoun  and  his  nullification  doc 
trine,  accused  the  so-called  "  American  system  "  of  being 
the  father  of  this  idea  of  not  opening  more  western 
land  since  "  it  wanted  for  its  factories  that  low  and 
degraded  population  which  infests  the  cities  and  towns 
of  Europe  .  .  .  and  will  work  for  the  lowest  wages.  It 
could  overcome  this  need  only  by  preventing  the  draw 
ing  off  this  population  from  the  manufacturing  states." 
It  had  brought  about  "  a  manufactory  of  paupers  to 
make  rich  proprietors  of  woollen  and  cotton  factories." 
In  this  combination  of  interests,  Hayne  saw  a  dangerous 
growth  of  the  Union,  which  was  being,  consolidated  for 
selfish  purposes.1 

Hayne  was  the  son  of  a  Revolutionary  soldier,  pos 
sessed  of  a  winning  personality,  and  a  man  high  in  the 
counsels  of  his  state.  He  was  the  most  dashing  orator 
in  the  Senate,  perfectly  fearless,  and  with  sustaining  con 
fidence.  He  was  much  more  polished,  more  judicious, 
and  more  popular  than  Benton.  To  his  attack,  there 
fore,  a  reply  must  be  made.  There  was  no  question  upon 
the  choice  of  a  defender  for  manufacturing  New  England. 

1  One  of  the  cartoons  of  the  day,  which  is  shown  on  the  opposite  page, 
represents  Daniel  Webster  playing  a  hand-organ  and  assisting  Henry  Clay 
in  his  great  American  system.  The  effect  of  Clay's  project  is  suggested  in 
the  American  people  as  a  cage  of  monkeys.  Andrew  Jackson,  entering 
the  room  with  his  white  hat,  pronounces  the  whole  thing  a  humbug. 


324          THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

The  issue  was  far  from  a  part  of  the  daily  routine  of 
debate.  Indeed,  it  penetrated  the  inmost  parts  of  the 
national  existence.  Its  words  would  later  become  deeds. 
For  such  a  task  nature  seemed  to  have  reserved  Daniel 
Webster.  His  soul  revelled  in  lofty  themes,  far  above 
the  average  politician  of  his  time.  His  imagination 
framed  the  possibility  and  trend  of  future  events.  Im 
practical  and  negligent  in  business,  lacking  the  high 
moral  nature  of  the  people  he  represented,  he  was 
a  strange  instrument  to  word  the  theory  upon  which 
one  section  of  the  people  would  wage  war  on  another 
section  thirty  years  later. 

Webster  had  not  reached  Washington  until  the  ses 
sion  was  almost  a  month  old,  and  he  was  occupied  with 
a  case  then  being  heard  in  the  Supreme  Court.  How 
ever  handicapped,  he  was  still  a  New  England  man,  and 
he  arose  immediately  to  reply  to  Hayne,  but  an  adjourn 
ment  postponed  his  speech  until  the  following  day.  The 
increased  attendance  the  next  day  showed  that  the  event 
of  the  session  had  begun,  although  few  realized  that  the 
opposing  theories  on  the  nature  of  the  government  were 
to  be  represented  in  flesh  and  blood.  Sections  and  the 
ories  now  coincided,  and  a  dispute  over  the  past  record 
of  the  one  was  to  grow  into  a  contest  over  the  merits  of 
the  other.  The  attitude  of  Massachusetts  and  the  south 
toward  the  west  was  to  be  lost  sight  of  in  the  Union 
versus  the  individual  states.  It  was  to  be  a  mental 
combat,  free  from  the  brutality  of  the  old  gladiatorial 
shows ;  yet,  unfortunately,  but  the  prologue  to  a  mortal 
struggle  thirty  years  later. 

Webster's  reply  was  a  calm,  scholarly  history  of  the 
western  land  question.  His  eloquence  was  ponderous, 


DANIEL    WEBSTER  325 

his  gestures  few,  his  cool  manner  a  strong  contrast  to 
his  nervous  opponent.  Only  once  did  he  notice  the 
great  question  of  consolidation  raised  by  Hayne.  "  I 
am  a  Unionist.  ...  I  would  strengthen  the  ties  that 
hold  us  together." 

Hayne  could  scarcely  wait  for  "  an  opportunity  of 
returning  the  shot."  He  insisted  that  the  debate  should 
not  be  postponed  because  of  his  antagonist's  engage 
ment  in  the  Supreme  Court.  Webster,  with  good  effect, 
folded  his  arms  and  in  his  sonorous  voice  exclaimed  : 
"  Let  the  discussion  proceed,  I  am  ready.  I  am  ready 
now  to  receive  the  gentleman's  fire."  For  parts  of  two 
days,  Hayne  repelled  the  "  uncalled-for  and  unprovoked 
attack  "  on  the  south  and  made  a  bitter  personal  show 
ing  of  the  "  unpatriotic  "  record  of  New  England  and 
Webster  in  the  embargo  of  1809  and  the  war  of  1812. 
Webster  afterward  said  that  to  gain  this  material  "the 
vicinity  of  my  former  residence  was  searched,  as  with 
a  lighted  candle.  New  Hampshire  was  explored  from 
the  mouth  of  the  Merrimack  to  the  White  Hills." 

In  his  reply,  Hayne  had  the  sympathy  and  support 
of  three-fourths  of  the  Senate.  Even  Vice-President 
Calhoun,  the  presiding  officer,  was  said  to  have  sent 
suggestive  notes  to  him  by  the  pages.  He  was  ready 
to  meet  Webster  on  the  Union  question.  "  Who,  then, 
are  the  friends  of  the  Union  ?  Those  who  confine  the 
Federal  Government  strictly  within  the  limits  prescribed 
by  the  Constitution  ;  who  would  preserve  to  the  States 
and  the  People  all  powers  not  expressly  delegated  ; 
who.  would  make  this  a  Federal  and  not  a  National 
Union.  .  .  .  And  who  are  its  enemies  ?  Those  who 
are  in  favor  of  consolidation ;  who  are  constantly  steal- 


326         THE  MEAT  WHO  MADE   THE  NATION 

ing  power  from  the  States  and  adding  strength  to  the 
Federal  Government.  .  .  .  Our  fathers  desired  not  the 
consolidation  of  the  government,  but  the  consolidation 
of  the  Union.  We  want  a  Federal  Union  ;  not  a  Na 
tional  Union."  When  he  concluded,  an  adjournment 
was  made  to  the  following  day,  although  Webster  had 
arisen  to  reply. 

The  friends  of  Hayne  rejoiced,  claiming  a  victory. 
The  friends  of  Webster  questioned  whether  the  New 
England  orator  could  refute  the  apparently  authentic 
statements  concerning  his  own  past  history,  his  state, 
and  the  intentions  of  the  fathers  of  the  Constitution.  On 
the  latter  point  only  did  he  himself  seem  to  have  any  hes 
itation,  and  that  upon  grounds  of  expediency  rather  than 
ability.  To  a  friend  on  the  evening  before  his  second 
reply,  he  expressed  the  conviction  that  the  attack  upon 
New  England  was  secondary  to  Hayne's  exposition  of  a 
system  of  politics  which  went  far  to  change  the  form  of 
government  from  that  which  was  established  by  the 
Constitution  into  that  which  had  existed  under  the 
prior  Confederation.  He  expressed  his  intention  of 
putting  that  attempt  to  rest  forever,  so  far  as  it  could 
be  done  by  an  argument  in  the  Senate.  Yet  the  fol 
lowing  morning,  in  the  cloak-room  of  the  Capitol,  he 
unfolded  to  another  friend l  his  doubts  about  the  advis 
ability  of  the  action.  Being  assured  that  it  was  high 
time  that  the  people  should  know  what  the  Constitution 
really  was,  Webster  replied,  "  Then,  by  the  blessing  of 
Heaven,  they  shall  learn,  this  day,  before  the  sun  goes 
down,  what  I  understand  it  to  be." 

News  of  the  intellectual  combat  had  gone  forth,  and 

1  Bell,  of  New  Hampshire. 


DANIEL    WEBSTER  327 

many  visitors  had  come  into  the  city.  Before  the  hour 
of  opening,  twelve  o'clock,  the  Senate  chamber  was 
packed,  the  very  stairs  being  filled  with  men  who  clung 
on  to  each  other  "like  bees  in  a  swarm."  Across  the 
rotunda,  the  Speaker  sat  in  the  deserted  House  of 
Representatives.  One  member  who  had  come  over  to 
the  Senate  found  himself  wedged  in  behind  one  of  the 
swinging  doors  back  of  the  Vice-President's  chair,  and 
broke  the  glass  in  the  door,  so  that  he  might  hear  the 
speaker.1  The  statement  of  the  anti-Jackson  men  that 
they  were  returning  to  the  old  Whig  principles  of  Revo 
lutionary  days  may  have  suggested  the  blue  coat  and 
buff  waistcoat  which  Webster  wore  on  this  occasion. 
None  knew  better  than  he  the  effect  of  appropriate 
dress. 

All  opening  preliminaries  were  postponed  to  hear  the 
great  senator  from  Massachusetts.  Having  presented  in 
consistency  for  inconsistency  in  the  past  record  of  both 
men  and  sections,  he  came  to  consider  the  nature  of  the 
Union,  and  to  show  that  there  could  be  no  nullification 
save  in  revolution.  If  the  states  had  created  the  Union, 
then  it  was  bound  to  obey  four  and  twenty  masters  of 
different  wills  and  different  purposes.  "  It  is,  sir,  the 
people's  constitution,  the  people's  government;  made 
for  the  people  ;  made  by  the  people  ;  and  answerable  to 
the  people.  .  .  .  The  State  legislatures  as  political 
bodies,  however  sovereign,  are  not  yet  sovereign  over 
the  people."  He  closed  with  the  well-known  appeal 
for  "  liberty  and  union,  now  and  forever,  one  and 
inseparable." 

The  new  theory  had  been   pronounced.      The  silent 

1  Wentworth,  of  Illinois. 


328          THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

and  necessary  growth  of  power  in  the  central  govern 
ment  was  now  to  be  understood  as  having  been  there 
intentionally  and  from  the  beginning.  The  listeners 
sat  silent  as  if  amazed,  although  the  Vice-President 
pounded  lustily  with  his  gavel  and  cried  angrily, 
"  Order  !  Order  !  "  A  group  of  Massachusetts  men 
who  clustered  in  a  corner  of  the  gallery  and  who  "  shed 
tears  like  girls  "  felt  that  Calhoun  was  trying  to  break 
the  spell  of  the  concluding  appeal.  Once,  indeed,  he 
had  sharply  interrupted  the  speaker  to  inquire  if  he 
meant  anything  personal.  Hayne  had  done  the  same 
thing.  But  the  imperturbable  Webster  assured  each  that 
such  was  far  from  his  intentions.  The  listeners  may 
have  felt  otherwise. 

In  a  rejoinder,  Hayne  pointed  out  the  words  in  the 
preamble  to  the  Constitution  —  "  We  the  people  of  the 
United  States."  "It  is  clear  they  can  only  relate  to 
the  people  as  citizens  of  the  several  States,  because  the 
Federal  Government  was  not  then  in  existence."  In  a 
counter-rejoinder,  Webster  showed  that  "  so  far  from 
saying  that  it  is  established  by  the  Governments  of  the 
several  States,  it  does  not  even  say  that  it  is  established 
by  the  people  of  the  several  States ;  but  it  pronounces 
that  it  is  established  by  the  people  of  the  United  States 
in  the  aggregate."  1 

The  debate  on  the  Foote  resolution  dragged  on  until 
May,  but  it  was  only  the  firing  of  the  smaller  pieces. 
The  twenty-pounders  had  spoken.  Each  side  claimed 

1  In  the  first  draught  of  the  Constitution,  the  preamble  had  read  :  "  We 
the  people  of  the  States  of  New  Hampshire,  Massachusetts,"  and  so  on 
through  the  list  of  thirteen  states;  but,  since  no  one  knew  how  many  of 
the  states  would  adopt  the  new  government,  the  preamble  was  changed  to 
"  We  the  people  of  the  United  States." 


DANIEL    WEBSTER 


329 


Mn    HAYNE,   OP  SOUTH  CAROLINA 


*HK    ftESOLITTlOS    OVFBltKn   BY   MR.   FOOT, 


HW.AT1VK  TO 


the  victory.  "  They  say  that  the  Southern  Orator  is 
more  than  a  match  for  the -New  England  Lawyer"  a 
southern  newspaper  asserted.  Another  said,  "The 
theory  of  Webster 
that  for  a  state 
to  resist  an  uncon 
stitutional  law  is 

treason;  that  the  *  DANIEL  WEBSTER, 
General  Govern 
ment  derives  its 
power  not  from  the 
concessions  of  the 
States  but  by  the 
grant  of  the  peo 
ple;  that  Congress 
is  the  sole  judge  of 
the  extent  of  its 
powers  under  the 
Constitution  ;  that 
the  federal  judici 
ary  is  the  tribunal 
of  last  resort  and 
irresponsible  ex 
cept  to  Congress 
by  impeachment 
—  these  views  de 
stroy  the  sovereign 
character  of  the  states  and  tend  to  concentrate  power 
in  the  central  government." 

The  Jacksonian  newspapers  claimed  that  "  Mr.  Web 
ster  has  been  foiled  in  his  great  object.  Mr.  Hayne's 
are  the  true  views  of  the  Constitution  —  that  it  is  a  lim- 


PUBLIC 


BEING  UNDEIl  CONSIDERATION. 


IK    THE    StNAfK,    3A.KVA.Kr 


ASHINGTOIT  : 


1830. 


330          THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

ited  constitution :  formed  by  sovereign  states  and  pos 
sessing  certain  specified  powers.  Mr.  Webster's  theory 
would  give  it  substantially  unlimited  authority  over  the 
state  governments  and  in  effect  reduce  them  to  mere 
corporations."  It  was  a  revival  of  the  old  theory  of 
government  by  a  select  few  which  had  fallen  with  the 
first  Adams  and  had  arisen  with  the  second  Adams,  but 
to  be  crushed  by  Jackson.  Again  they  said  :  "The  im 
portance  of  this  debate  must  be  apparent  to  all.  It  is 
deeply  felt  here.  .  .  .  Webster  depends  upon  his  speech, 
which  is  to  go  forth  North  and  West,  to  rally  all  that  can 
be  collected  in  the  crusade  against  the  States,  against 
the  South,  and  against  the  present  Administration." 

The  latter  prophecy  seemed  likely  to  be  fulfilled.  At 
the  office  of  the  National  Intelligencer  in  Washington 
forty  thousand  copies  of  Webster's  speeches  were  struck 
off.  The  Massachusetts  presses  added  as  many  more. 
Fulsome  praise  attended  the  circulation,  until  the  Jack- 
sonian  papers  cried  "  the  force  of  puffing  can  no  further 
go."  Some  compared  the  services  of  Webster  with 
those  of  Jefferson  in  saving  the  country.  Others  com 
pared  him  with  Washington. 

"  When  erst  oppression's  iron  hand 
Bore  long  and  heavy  on  our  land, 
A  cry  arose,  and  Heaven  anon 
Sent  the  deliverer,  Washington. 

"  So  when  a  second  crisis  came 
(Rebellion,  glorying  in  the  name, 
Reared  high  her  flaming  torch  elate), 
Webster  appeared  and  'saved  the  State.' " 

Addresses  from  various  bodies,  and  resolutions  from  state 
legislatures  of  New  England,  were  showered  upon  him. 


DANIEL    WEBSTER  331 

Clay,  who  was  in  temporary  retirement,  wrote  that  the 
speeches  were  the  theme  of  praise  from  every  tongue.1 

Soon  after,  Webster  made  a  triumphant  tour  as  far 
west  as  Ohio,  where  he  was  turned  back  by  the  preva 
lence  of  the  cholera.  He  was  feasted  and  toasted  all 
along  his  journey  "for  his  devotion  to  the  stability  of 
the  Union."  The  new  theory  of  the  Union  was  widely 
discussed  as  a  new  idea — "a  newfangled  idea  in  an  old 
democracy."  Wags  compared  the  union  of  the  states 
with  the  union  of  man  and  wife,  having  a  resultant  right 
of  revolution.  A  toast  was  offered  to  "The  Fair  — 
While  they  are  for  Union  we  defy  the  world." 

From  an  unprejudiced  view  point,  Hayne  was  histori 
cally  correct  in  his  stand.  The  people  through  the  states 
had  sent  the  delegates  to  the  two  conventions  which 
finally  resulted  in  the  Constitution.  That  document  was 
reported  to  the  several  states  and  ratified  by  the  people 
residing  therein.  The  senators  and  representatives  are 
chosen  by  the  people  of  the  states.  But  whatever  the 
fathers  had  meant  or  understood,  Webster  was  pro 
phetically  correct.  It  had  been  found  impossible  to 
retain  the  reserved  powers  in  the  states.  The  Union 
had  been  made  and  was  to  be  made  not  by  theory  but 
by  necessity.  Geographically  and  commercially  the 
whole  must  be  superior  to  one  of  its  parts.  Hayne 
was  speaking  the  language  of  the  past ;  Webster  that  of 

1  The  friends  of  the  Union  pronounced  it  a  victory  over  Calhoun  and 
his  theory  of  nullification. 

The  chorus  of  a  song  of  the  day  ran  : 

"  John  C.  Calhoun,  my  Jo  John,  I'm  sorry  for  your  fate, 
You've  nullified  the  tariff  laws,  you've  nullified  your  state. 
You've  nullified  your  party,  John,  and  principles,  you  know, 
And  now  you've  nullified  yourself,  John  C.  Calhoun,  my  Jo." 


332          THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

the  future.  The  "  cause  "  was  "  lost  "  thirty  years  before 
the  first  gun  was  fired. 

A  debate  could  settle  nothing.  Even  the  compromise 
between  South  Carolina  and  the  Union,  which  closed  the 
tariff  incident,  left  sectional  theory  open  to  further  dis 
cussion.  Unfortunately  these  theories  found  exemplifi 
cation  in  a  sectional  fact  in  the  annexation  of  Texas  and 
the  resulting  war  with  Mexico. 

In  the  light  of  the  present  day,  one  must  see  the 
accession  of  Texas  as  an  event  in  the  territorial  expan 
sion  of  the  American  people.  It  was  an  evidence  of 
the  land  hunger  inherited  from  our  English  ancestry. 
The  ensuing  war  with  Mexico,  entirely  unprovoked,  was 
another  result  of  overbearing  English  blood,  the  desire 
to  fight  something,  to  take  a  gun  occasionally  and  go 
out  to  kill  something.  The  American  settlers  in  Texas 
had  been  drawn  largely  from  the  southern  states. 
They  had  taken  their  slaves  with  them.  To  the  north 
ern  view,  the  war  seemed  to  be  undertaken  by  the 
southern  slave  owners  against  a  weak  sister  republic 
in  which  slavery  had  been  abolished.  The  fact  that 
President  Polk,  whose  orders  had  precipitated  the  war 
and  who  notified  Congress  that  war  existed  by  the  act 
of  Mexico,  was  a  southern  man  and  a  slave  owner  gave 
further  color  to  this  charge  of  a  war  for  the  benefit  of 
slavery. 

In  truth,  the  first  lines  were  drawn,  not  on  sections, 
but  on  the  support  of  the  President.  Senators  from  the 
following  states  supported,  for  instance,  the  first  war 
measure:  New  Hampshire,  New  York,  Pennsylvania, 
Georgia,  Indiana,  Mississippi,  Illinois,  Alabama,  Mis 
souri,  Arkansas,  Florida,  and  Texas.  Those  from  the 


DANIEL    WEBSTER  333 

following  states  opposed  it :  Massachusetts,  Rhode 
Island,  Vermont,  New  Jersey,  Delaware,  Maryland, 
Virginia,  North  Carolina,  Kentucky,  Louisiana,  and 
Maine.  The  following  states  were  divided,  one  senator 
voting  affirmatively  and  the  other  negatively :  Connecti 
cut,  South  Carolina,  Tennessee,  Ohio,  and  Michigan. 
It  was  not  a  slavery  war  in  its  beginning,  but  it  had  that 
appearance  to  the  anti-slavery  element  in  New  England. 

Calhoun  voted  in  the  affirmative  and  supported  the 
war  throughout.  Webster  was  absent  when  the  first 
measures  were  passed,  but  opposed  the  war  unto  the 
end,  thereby  still  further  endearing  himself  to  the  anti- 
slavery  people  of  New  England  as  their  champion. 

New  Hampshire  had  first  sent  Daniel  Webster  to 
Congress  in  1813,  where  he  served  two  terms.  When  he 
removed  to  Boston,  he  again  served  four  years  in  Con 
gress  and  was  then  made  United  States  Senator  from 
Massachusetts.  Thrice  was  he  chosen  to  this  position 
by  the  legislature  of  his  state.  Although  far  from 
possessing  the  habits  of  the  Puritan,  he  was  felt  to  be 
the  protector  of  New  England  both  as  to  character  and 
interests  against  the  attacks  of  the  other  sections. 
After  listening  to  his  reply  to  Hayne,  "  New  England 
men  walked  down  Pennsylvania  Avenue  .  .  .  with  a 
firmer  step  and  bolder  air.  .  .  .  You  would  have  sworn 
they  had  grown  some  inches  taller  in  a  few  hours'  time. 
They  devoured  the  way,  in  their  stride.  .  .  .  No  one 
who  was  not  ready  to  exclaim,  with  gushing  eyes  in  the 
fulness  of  gratitude,  'Thank  God,  I  too  am  a  Yankee!'"1 
When  the  "Godlike  Daniel,"  as  they  called  him,  re 
signed  to  accept  a  cabinet  position  under  Harrison, 

1  March's  "  Reminiscences  of  Congress,"  page  125. 


334          THE  MEN~  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

Massachusetts  waited  patiently  until  he  was  again  free, 
and  upon  the  first  opportunity,  in  1845,  sent  him  back 
to  his  old  place.  Other  senators  exceeded  in  time  the 
eighteen  years  served  by  Webster  in  the  Senate.  Few 
endeared  themselves  so  much  to  their  constituents  ; 
none  made  such  a  reputation  for  oratory  on  so  few 
speeches. 

When  the  "  Force  bill  "  which  Jackson  put  through 
Congress  to  punish  South  Carolina,  as  described  in  the 
last  chapter,  was  pending  in  the  Senate,  Calhoun  arose 
as  the  protector  of  the  rights  of  that  state  to  hurl  his 
condemnation  and  even  defiance  at  it  and  its  author. 
The  reply  of  Webster  drew  crowded  galleries  and  at  its 
close  made  them,  despite  the  rules,  rise  to  cheer  "  Daniel 
Webster,  the  defender  of  the  Constitution."  Had  not 
the  Hayne- Webster  controversy  preceded  and  overshad 
owed  it,  this  would  have  been  the  great  constitutional 
debate.  Soon  after,  the  censure  by  the  Senate  of  Jack 
son's  conduct  in  the  bank  controversy  brought  forth  a 
"protest"  from  the  chief  executive.  Webster's  reply 
was  considered  by  many  to  have  surpassed  his  previous 
efforts  in  constitutional  argument.  Upon  these  three 
great  occasions  the  reputation  of  Webster  as  the  "de 
fender  of  the  Constitution  "  rested.  The  crucial  test 
was  drawing  near. 

Those  who  conceded  to  genius  the  right  of  inconsist 
ency  readily  pardoned  Webster  for  having  changed  his 
attitude  upon  the  tariff  and  other  questions  at  different 
times.  In  truth,  shifting  conditions  in  a  growing  body 
make  a  permanent  attitude  impossible  either  in  a  party 
or  a  leader.  Webster  once  said,  "Politicians  are  not  sun 
flowers  ;  they  do  not  turn  on  their  god  when  he  sets  the 


DANIEL    WEBSTER  335 

same  look  that  they  turned  when  he  rose."  The  great 
strength  which  the  anti-slavery  element  was  gaining  in 
his  own  Massachusetts  was  not  unknown  to  Webster, 
nor  the  importance  of  cultivating  it  unappreciated. 
Would  he  fall  in  with  the  rapidly  rising  sentiment  in 
favor  of  the  national  regulation  of  slavery,  or  would  he 
abide  by  the  old  idea  of  leaving  the  matter  to  the  indi 
vidual  states  ? 

In  1833,  Webster  had  written  to  an  inquirer:  "Con 
gress  has  no  authority  to  interfere  in  the  emancipation 
of  the  slaves  or  in  the  treatment  of  them  in  any  of  the 
States.  That  was  decided  in  1790.  I  regard  slavery 
as  a  great  evil,  morally  and  politically,  but  the  remedy 
lies  in  the  several  States."  In  1848,  when  the  Whigs 
overlooked  Webster  as  a  presidential  possibility  and 
were  carried  away  by  the  war  hero,  General  Taylor, 
Webster  might  have  repudiated  the  candidate  and 
thrown  his  influence  to  Ex-President  Van  Buren,  who 
had  reappeared  as  a  Free-Soil  or  anti-slavery  candidate. 
When  in  a  speech  at  his  home,  Marshfield,  he  ignored 
Van  Buren,  and  decided  of  the  two  evils  of  Whig  and 
Democratic  candidates  to  support  the  Whig,  he  bitterly 
disappointed  the  anti-slavery  people  of  his  state.  His 
efforts  to  keep  back  the  growing  slavery  question  and 
to  bring  out  the  old  issues  of  the  tariff  and  the  bank 
are  almost  pitiful.  He  was  like  some  giant  trying  by 
main  strength  to  hold  in  place  the  floodgates  beyond 
which  surged  the  constantly  increasing  tide  of  public 
sentiment.  The  people  had  been  "  fooled  "  for  some 
time,  but  they  could  not  be  fooled  all  of  the  time. 

Sentiment  in  the  south  grew  with  that  in  the  north, 
but  from  an  opposite  standpoint.  With  the  increase  of 


336          THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

means  of  transportation  and  communication  between 
the  two  sections,  the  property  of  the  slave  owners 
became  more  in  peril.  Pamphlets  and  newspapers 
came  over  the  border  to  tell  the  slave  that  he  was 
bound  to  his  master  by  no  moral  right.  School-teachers 
followed  to  teach  the  slave  to  read.  The  "  under 
ground  railroad "  with  its  scores  of  routes  and  its 
thousand  stations  offered  a  premium  to  the  runaway 
slave  who  could  reach  the  border.  If  the  master 
ignored  a  runaway,  he  encouraged  the  others  to  take 
a  similar  leave.  If  he  pursued  him  into  the  north, 
every  mind  conspired  against  him  to  keep  him  out  of  his 
property.  If  an  example  was  not  made  of  the  returned 
slave,  the  effect  on  his  companions  was  lost.  A  run 
away  slave  was  like  a  runaway  horse  —  he  simply  awaited 
another  opportunity.  Escaping  again  to  the  north,  he 
showed  his  scars  and  wounds,  and  in  a  moment's  time 
created  more  anti-slavery  sentiment  than  constitutional 
theories  and  judicial  decisions  could  overcome  in  a  life 
time.1 

The  Constitution  had  distinctly  recognized  slaves  as 
property  to  be  restored  to  lawful  owners,  and  the  Con 
gress  had  assented  to  this  hypothesis  with  very  few 
dissentients  in  the  act  of  1793.  According  to  its 
provisions,  the  owner  could  reclaim  his  property  before 
either  a  national  or  state  magistrate,  and  the  governor 
of  the  state  was  bound  to  return  the  slave  as  he  would 
return  a  criminal  escaping  from  justice.  The  chief 
difficulty  in  enforcing  the  law  lay  in  identification.  The 
blacks  had  no  distinctive  marks,  no  identity,  no  lineage, 

1  The  New  York  Tribune  of  Feb.  28,  1851,  estimated  the  number  of 
fugitive  slaves  escaping  the  preceding  year  at  ion. 


DANIEL    WEBSTER  337 

and  often  no  definite  names.  No  doubt  free  negroes 
were  sometimes  taken  by  mistake,  and  the  people  of  the 
north  came  to  believe  every  seizure  an  abduction. 

A  disposition  became  manifest  as  the  cases  increased 
to  ignore  the  old  fugitive  slave  law  —  through  state 
court  decisions,  refusals  of  governors  to  honor  requisi 
tions,  and  " retaliatory  laws"  passed  by  various  state 
legislatures.  To  make  matters  worse  for  the  slave 
owner,  the  United  States  Supreme  Court  decided  that 
the  national  government  could  not  compel  state  officers 
to  execute  the  old  law.1  Hence  the  growing  demand  on 
the  part  of  the  south  for  a  new  fugitive  slave  law  which 
should  ignore  the  states  and  give  more  strength  to  the 
national  officers  in  returning  fugitives.  The  northern 
states  had  been,  encouraging  the  growth  of  the  Union  ; 
the  southerners  wanted  to  have  the  benefit  of  it. 

As  this  proposed  Fugitive  Slave  law  took  shape  in 
Congress,  sectional  animosity  flamed  up  afresh.  The 
anti-slavery  men  insisted  that  the  machinery  of  the 
United  States  government  should  never  be  prostituted 
to  returning  men  to  bondage.  The  south  hoped  that 
the  attitude  of  the  north  would  be  assumed  only  after 
mature  deliberation,  since  the  decision  would  be  final. 
If  justice  to  their  interests  could  not  be  obtained  in  the 
Union,  then  it  must  be  obtained  out  of  the  Union.  One 
member  of  the  Senate  in  a  speech  gave  only  a  week's 
respite  before  the  south  would  take  action.  A  southern 
convention  was  called  to  meet  at  Nashville  and  filled  all 
with  apprehension.2 

1  In  the  case  of  Prigg  vs.  Pennsylvania  (1842). 

2  Two  sessions  of  this  convention  were  held  in   1850.     Delegates  were 
present  from  seven  southern  states.     Nothing  save  resolutions  resulted. 

z 


338          THE  MEN-  WHO  MADE   THE  NATION 

Between  these  two  hostile  camps  of  radicals  or  hot- 
bloods  of  both  sections,  the  conservative  commercial 
men  who  saw  ruin  in  the  threatening  disunion  ran  to 
and  fro,  crying,  "Peace!  Peace!  The  Union!  The 
Union  !  "  A  Washington  newspaper  asked  what  was  to 
become  of  its  invested  capital  when  the  Union  was  at  an 
end.  Three  and  four  columns  from  Washington  on  the 
signs  of  the  times  could  be  found  in  every  outside  news 
paper. 

"  Union  "  meetings  were  held  in  many  cities  and  reso 
lutions  adopted  condemning  "  the  fanatical  efforts  of  the 
Abolition  and  free-soil  agitators."  Calhoun,  the  protector 
of  the  south,  who  sat  "  with  cast-iron  countenance  "  in 
the  shadow  of  coming  death,  hoped  for  nothing  from 
such  demonstrations.  "  The  cry  of  '  Union,  Union,  the 
glorious  Union ! '  can  no  more  prevent  disunion,"  said 
he,  "than  the  cry  of  'Health,  health,  glorious  health  !' 
on  the  part  of  the  physician  can  save  a  patient  lying 
dangerously  ill." 

In  this  tension,  Clay,  the  great  pacificator,  again  came 
forward  with  a  compromise  by  which  each  side  should 
gain  something  and  yield  something.1  The  north,  for 
one  thing,  was  to  allow  the  Fugitive  Slave  measure  to 
pass.  The  proposition  met  a  storm  of  protest.  James 
Russell  Lowell  paid  his  compliments  to  the  proposed 
"compromise"  : 

"Now  God  confound  the  dastard  word  ! 
My  gall  thereat  arises  : 
Northward  it  hath  this  sense  alone, 

1  The  several  provisions  of  the  Compromise  of  1850  may  be  found  in 
any  text-book.  They  were  popularly  known  as  the  "  five  bleeding  wounds 
in  the  body  politic." 


DANIEL    WEBSTER       ^  339 

That  you,  your  conscience  blinding, 
Shall  bow  your  fool's  nose  to  the  stone, 
When  slavery  feels  like  grinding.'1  x 

All  awaited  the  attitude  which  Webster  would  take. 
It  was  the  last  combat  of  the  old  gladiators.  Clay  was 
there,  even  then  having  premonitions  of  that  ailment 
which  soon  proved  fatal.  Calhoun  was  there,  too  feeble 
to  speak,  but  gesturing  whilst  his  speech  was  read  by 
another  through  the  courtesy  of  the  Senate.  A  reporter 
described  him  as  "  pale  and  thin  and  seemed  quite  feeble. 
He  appeared  more  like  a  corpse  than  a  living  being,  he 
was  so  ghastly  and  pale."  Webster  alone  seemed  to 
retain  both  the  physical  and  intellectual  strength  of  the 
past. 

In  February,  1850,  a  Washington  correspondent  wrote 
to  his  paper,  "  All  are  looking  forward  with  no  incon 
siderable  interest  for  the  long-promised  speeches  of 
Calhoun,  Benton,  and  Webster.  .  .  .  What  course  Mr. 
Webster  will  take  I  will  not  attempt  to  foreshadow.  I 
believe  no  man  knows  and  that  all  rumors  in  respect  to 
it  are  idle  and  utterly  unfounded."  On  March  3,  he 
wrote  :  "We  yet  see  no  signs  of  Mr.  Webster  appearing 
as  compromiser  for  the  benefit  of  the  South.  It  is  evi 
dent  he  elects  to  play  the  part  in  which  he  has  been  told 
he  would  be  sure  to  make  a  great  hit "  —  and  that  was 
as  a  Massachusetts  anti-slavery  man. 

A  few  days  later  it  was  rumored  that  the  great  oracle 
would  speak  on  the  /th  of  March.  "  Our  city  is  now 
teeming  with  strangers,"  said  a  Washington  news 
paper.  It  afterward  declared  that  "the  Senator  from 
Massachusetts  rose  to  address  the  most  crowded  audi- 

1  From  "  An  Interview  with  Miles  Standish." 


340          THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

ence  we  have  ever  seen  on  the  floor  and  in  the  galleries 
of  the  chamber."  The  official  Congressional  Globe 
says : 

"THURSDAY,  March  7,  1850. 

"At  an  early  hour  this  morning,  the  Senate  chamber  was  com 
pletely  occupied  by  ladies  and  such  few  gentlemen  as  had  been 
able  to  obtain  admittance,  who  endured  several  hours  patient 
possession  of  seats,  and  even  of  the  floor,  that  they  might  hear 
the  long-expected  speech  of  the  Senator  from  Massachusetts." 

Upon  this  great  assemblage  the  deep  voice  of  the 
orator  fell  in  a  fresh  plea  for  the  Union :  "  Mr.  Presi 
dent,  I  wish  to  speak  to-day  not  as  a  Massachusetts 
man,  nor  as  a  northern  man,  but  as  an  American  and 
a  member  of  the  Senate  of  the  United  States.  ...  I 
speak  to-day  for  the  preservation  of  the  Union."  For 
three  hours  he  continued  with  a  rather  tedious  history 
of  human  slavery,  and  a  review  of  the  necessity  for  each 
point  in  the  proposed  compromise.  Upon  the  Fugitive 
Slave  provision  he  was  not  uncertain.  "I  propose  to 
support  that  bill  to  the  fullest  extent,  to  the  fullest  ex 
tent."  In  a  portion  of  the  speech,  when  depicting  the 
horrors  of  a  dissolution  of  the  Union,  he  glowed  with 
the  old-time  fire,  but  as  a  whole  the  effort  must  rank  only 
as  an  historical  dissertation. 

An  outline  of  the  speech  reached  Boston  the  next 
day  and  was  printed  under  the  head  "  By  Magnetic 
Telegraph."  *  When  the  entire  speech  came  by  mail 

1  The  use  of  the  telegraph  had  been  greatly  extended  by  the  Mexican 
war,  but  the  service  for  many  years  after  was  very  inadequate.  Sometimes 
the  transmission  of  a  speech  would  suddenly  end,  and  the  editor  would  be 
compelled  to  add  a  note,  "  The  remainder  of  this  message  will  be  printed 
to-morrow. " 


DANIEL    WEBSTER  341 

there  was  a  diversity  of  opinion  corresponding  with  the 
attitude  on  slavery.  One  newspaper,  which  had  learned 
"  from  Washington  that  Mr.  Webster  will  speak  in  the 
Senate  on  Wednesday  and  make  a  whole-souled  Union 
speech,"  failed  to  relish  a  speech  which  conceded  too 
much  to  the  Union.  "  It  has  caused  considerable  sen 
sation  in  this  city  (Boston),  and,  we  must  add,  not  a 
very  satisfactory  one.  We  do  not  so  much  desire 


SPEECH  OF  MR.  WEBSTER  ' 


MR.tfCLA'Y'S  RESQLUTIONS. 

#  \ 


TBB.  MAECH  7,  1850. 


SECOND  EDITIO 


Tb*  Vic«  PesynuEHx.    Th«  resolutions  imbmuted  by  the  SenaOT  from  Kentucky  were  mads  Ou 

«pesnai  order  oC  iiie  day  at  12  o'doek.     The  Senator  from  Wisconsin  (Mr.  WALKIR)  haa  the  flow. 

,,'     Ji*»  W«I.KM.    Mr.^resiilcnt,  this  va«t  audience  ha»  oot  agscmbled  to  bear  me  •  ami  there  iTbut 

.-,-<•>»  man,  in  my  opunon,  who  can  assemble  such  an  audience.    TheytiXfieci  to  hear  him,  and  I  £eel  it 


orators  to  enlarge  upon  the  beauties  of  our  Union  as 
statesmen  who  will  have  the  courage  to  propose  means 
forits  preservation."  Another  Boston  editor  pronounced 
it  a  speech  to  promote  the  unity  of  the  Nation  —  a  spirit 
of  compromise,  forbearance,  and  generosity.  When  one 
newspaper  said,  "  We  expect  very  little  from  Mr.  Web 
ster,"  another  replied,  "We  trust  in  Heaven  he  has  not 
spoken  in  vain." 

Garrison's  Abolition  Liberator  declared  that  Webster 
had  "betrayed  the  cause  of  Liberty,  bent    his    supple 


342          THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

knees  anew  to  the  slave  power,  and  dishonored  the  State 
which  he  was  sent  to  Congress  faithfully  to  represent." 
Wendell  Phillips  reviewed  the  speech  in  many  columns. 
Whittier  called  it  "the  scandalous  treachery  of  Webster" 
and  turned  upon  him  the  full  strength  of  his  scorn  in 
"  Ichabod."  A  public  meeting  of  colored  people  in 
Boston  pronounced  the  speech  "wicked."  Demon 
stration  counteracted  demonstration.  When  the  Aboli- 


Barb»nt»  rufnauUrd  vu  »  free 


ILLUSTRATION  IN  AN  ABOLITION  PUBLICATION 

tionists  held  a  condemnation  meeting  in  Faneuil  Hall, 
the  ,Whigs  sent  Webster  a  congratulatory  address  with 
three  hundred  signatures  for  his  efforts  "toward  the 
common  good  of  the  country."  Similar  addresses  were 
sent  from  New  York  and  other  cities.  A  citizen  of 
California  sent  Webster  a  chain  of  solid  gold,  to  which 
the  New  York  merchants  hung  a  magnificent  watch. 
When  a  Whig  newspaper  asserted  that  Webster's  use 
fulness  as  a  public  man  was  gone  forever,  a  Democratic 


DANIEL    WEBSTER  343 

editor  equally  insisted  that  he  had  burst  the  narrow 
and  prejudiced  sectionalism  which  had  heretofore  con 
fined  and  cramped  his  mind. 

This  very  praise  of  Webster  by  the  Democratic 
press  was  the  most  disgusting  to  the  anti-slavery  peo 
ple,  since  it  showed  to  them  the  price  Webster  was  to 
receive  for  their  betrayal.  Phillips  thought  it  "  the  best 
bid  that  has  yet  been  made  for  the  presidency.  It  is  the 
shrewdest  thing  Daniel  ever  did."  An  anti-slavery 
writer  said  :  "  It  has  been  attempted  to  glorify  this 
speech  by  giving  to  it  the  title  '  For  the  Constitution 
and  the  Union.'  Less  grandiloquently,  perhaps,  but 
quite  as  truthfully  it  might  have  been  entitled,  '  A  job 
for  the  presidential  chair.' ' 

Was  Webster  candid  ?  Did  he  really  believe  the 
Union  was  in  danger  unless  the  south  obtained  its 
demands?  No  amount  of  human  logic  can  determine 
the  hidden  motives  of  a  man,  and  a  man  who  defiantly 
refuses  to  make  explanations  while  still  being  criti 
cised.  It  is  likely  that  his  lordly  nature,  refusing  to 
be  driven  by  radicals,  set  itself  in  the  old  way  of  the 
Union  and  there  remained  defiantly.  He  had  even  gone 
out  of  his  way  in  the  speech  to  defy  instructions  from  his 
constituents  and  to  abuse  the  Abolitionists.  "  I  do  not 
think  them  useful.  I  think  their  operations  for  the 
last  twenty  years  have  produced  nothing  that  is  good  or 
valuable."  "He  even  defies  the  instructions  of  federal 
Massachusetts  and  offers  the  open  hand  of  friendship  to 
the  south,"  said  a  Pennsylvania  editor. 

Two  months  later,  Webster  visited  Boston  and  spoke 
for  twenty  minutes  in  front  of  the  Revere  House.  He 
denied  that  he  had  stepped  backward  or  abandoned  his 


344         THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

old  position.  "  In  that  course  of  pacification  I  shall  per 
severe  regardless  of  all  personal  consequences."  Some 
reports  of  the  occasion  describe  the  immense  enthusiasm, 
and  others  the  lack  of  it.  A  cart  loaded  with  iron  which 
at  one  time  drowned  the  voice  of  the  speaker  was  attrib 
uted  to  the  trickery  of  his  enemies. 

During  the  ensuing  days,  Webster  said  there  had  not 
been  an  hour  in  which  he  had  not  felt  a  crushing  sense 
of  responsibility  and  fear  for  the  Union.  He  drew 
applause  from  the  gallery  of  the  Senate  by  declaring, 
"  I  shall  know  but  one  country.  The  ends  I  aim  at 
shall  be  my  country's,  my  God's,  and  Truth's."  When  a 
friend  suggested  that  he  make  some  apology  for  his 
attitude  he  replied,  "  Like  the  old  Deacon,  I  never 
make  paths  until  the  snow  ceases  to  fall."  But  the 
snow  of  criticism  was  not  likely  to  be  checked  by  his 
continuing  in  his  speeches  to  abuse  both  Abolitionists 
and  Free-Soilers,  especially  when  the  speeches  were 
delivered  as  far  south  as  Virginia. 

Even  then,  as  the  presidential  election  of  1852  drew 
near,!Sbme  hoped  the  prize  would  be  his.  Clay  was  ap 
proaching  his  end ;  there  was  no  other  Whig  leader.  But 
on  the  first  ballot  in  the  Baltimore  convention  Webster 
received  only  29  out  of  293  votes!  Through  the  fifty- 
three  ballots,  the  south  never  once  rallied  to  Webster. 
If  the  Abolitionist  charge  was  true  that  he  had  betrayed 
them,  he  never  received  the  thirty  pieces  of  silver.  A 
military  hero,  General  Scott,  had  again  won  the  honors 
from  a  civic  idol.  Determined  yet  to  win,  his  friends  in 
Massachusetts  nominated  him  as  an  independent  Whig 
candidate,  and  issued  pamphlets  in  his  behalf.  The 
action  was  followed  in  Pennsylvania  and  Georgia.  Three 


DANIEL    WEBSTER 


345 


weeks  before  the  election,  word  came  that  his  name  had 
been  withdrawn,  and  one  week  later,  the  news  followed 
that  Daniel  Webster  was  dead. 

It    is  as  specu-  i  ] 

lative  to  say  that 
a  broken  heart 
caused  his  physi 
cal  death  as  that 
the  /th  of  March 
caused  his  politi 
cal  death.  Web 
ster  was  the  idol 
of  New  England, 
but  she  never  won 
for  him  a  single 
state  outside  her 
section.  In  truth, 
she  had  lost  the 
balance  of  politi 
cal  power  to  the 
newer  west,  but 
failed  to  realize  it. 
Every  attempt  of 
Webster  to  gain 
legislation  for  her 


ADDUKSS  AM)  PROCEEDINGS 


FRIENDS  OF  DUNIEL  WEBSTER, 


ISSKMW.M  IN  n.NKIU  HALL 


©n 


,  September  1311),  1832, 


A  WEBSTER  CAMPAIGN  PAMPHLET,  1852 


interests,  alien 
ated  him  from  the 
agricultural  south.  Every  time  he  accepted  relief  from 
eastern  manufacturers  in  the  hard-pressed  condition  of 
his  finances,  due  to  careless  business  habits,  he  caused  the 
western  and  southern  people  to  fear  that  as  President  he 
would  be  the  servant  of  such  masters. 


346          THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

In  the  making  of  the  Nation,  the  matter  of  the 
presidency,  which  closed  in  failure  the  career  of  the 
preeminent  New  Englander,  was  as  unimportant  as  his 
attitude  on  the  tariff,  which  gave  question  to  the  open 
ing  of  his  career.  Higher  than  the  petty  details  of 
economic  legislation,  higher  than  the  services  of  any 
President  before  his  time,  must  be  reckoned  the  efforts 
of  Webster  for  the  Union.  He  put  into  usable  terms 
the  silent  growth  of  the  central  power,  and  couched  the 
whole  in  such  eloquent  language  that  it  became  an  all- 
potent  watchword  against  disunion,  —  "  Liberty  and 
Union,  now  and  forever,  one  and  inseparable  !  " 


CHAPTER    XI 

HORACE    GREELEY,  THE    ANTI-SLAVERY    EDITOR 

CLINTON,  LENAWEE  Co.,  MICH. 
Feb.  4,  1848. 

H.  GREELEY,  ESQ.  :  Please  send  me  the  New  York  Daily 
Tribune  and  I  will  pay  you  at  the  end  of  the  year.  By  so  do 
ing  you  will  promote  the  Whig  cause  in  this  section  of  country 

and  oblige, 

Yours,  etc., 

HENRY  W.  STEVENS. 

NEW  YORK,  Feb.  15,  1848. 

H.  W.  STEVENS,  ESQ.  :  .  .  .  I  published  newspapers  seven 
years  on  credit  with  lots  of  subscribers  and  came  near  starving 
to  death  thereby.  For  the  last  seven  years  I  have  gone  on  the 
opposite  track.  ...  I  have  since  had  not  only  a  goodly  array 
of  subscribers,  but  enough  to  eat,  a  good  suit  of  clothes,  and 
very  often  some  change  in  the  vest  pocket.  Wishing  you  a 
share  of  the  same  blessings,  I  am, 

Yours  truly, 

HORACE  GREELEY. 

Newspapers  had  been  printed  in  the  American  colo 
nies  seventy  years  before  the  Revolution,  yet  at  the 
beginning  of  that  struggle  they  numbered  less  than 
forty.  They  had  no  part  in  the  formation  of  public 
opinion.  The  political  contests  involving  the  adoption 
or  rejection  of  the  Federal  Constitution  put  a  new  value 

347 


348 


THE  MEN  WHO  MADE   THE  NATION 


The  Eagle  or 
Stranf/Hitff  the 
or  CORRri*TiO*Y. 


upon  printed  communications,  and  the  number  of  publi 
cations  increased  rapidly.  As  has  been  previously  said, 
the  rise  of  political  parties  was  marked  by  an  abusive 
press,1  but  the  cessation  of  party  spirit  in  the  "era  of 
good  feeling  "  caused  a  subsidence  of  this  acrimony.  The 
first  thought  was  that  the  home  of  the  newspaper  would 

be  at  the  headquarters  of 
politics  —  the  national  capi 
tal.  The  development  of 
business  enterprises  later 
showed  that  the  newspaper 
demanded  a  commercial 
foundation,  and  would  thrive 
best  in  the  greatest  business 
centre. 

In  1835,  James  Gordon 
Bennett,  after  numerous  ex 
periments  in  founding  jour 
nals,  left  the  city  of  Wash 
ington  and  started  a  penny 
paper,  the  Herald,  in  New 
York  City.  Four  years  ear 
lier,  there  had  reached  that 
city  a  kind  of  tramp  printer, 
whose  gaunt  and  awkward 

figure,  light  hair,  and  high  voice  made  him  the  ridicule 
of  his  fellow-printers,  as  he  sought  work  among  them. 
Horace  Greeley  had  been  a  precocious  child  in  the  Ver 
mont  hills,  where  he  had  later  learned  his  trade.  Now, 
like  Whittington  of  old,  he  had  come  with  $10  in  his 
pocket  to  the  "great  Metropolis,"  as  he  called  it,  to  make 

1  See  Chapter  VI. 


*«»- ' 

E&Z 

True  American  Ticket. 

For  Prrsiili-nt, 

WM.  HENRY  HARRISON. 


HORACE   GREELEY 


349 


his  fortune.  As  a  lad  in  the  country  school,  he  was 
reported  to  have  replied  to  a  questioning  visitor,  "  Sir,  I 
intend  to  be  an  editor."  This  ambition  caused  him  to 
attempt  the  Morning  Post,  and  then  the  New  Yorker, 
but  each  failed. 

The  campaign  year  of  1840  brought  a  change  in  Gree- 
ley's  ill  fortune.      The  Whigs,  profiting  by  the  success 

of    the  Demo- 

crats  with  Jack 
son,  decided  to 
pass  by  all  po 
litical  possibil 
ities  and  to 
take  up  an  old 
soldier  with  a 
military  record. 


CAMPAIGN  SYMBOLS  OF  1840 


Jackson    had 

represent  ed 

the   frontier   element    on   the   southwest,  and  William 

Henry  Harrison  was  selected  to  catch  the  frontier  vote 

on  the  northwest.1     Political  preference  thus  followed 

closely  the  migration  of  the  people. 

The  Democrats  scoffed  at  the  idea  of  sending  to  the 
White  House  a  candidate  of  the  wilderness,  who  needed 
only  a  log-cabin  to  dwell  in,  a  coonskin  cap  to  wear, 
hard  cider  to  drink,  and  a  pension  to  make  him  con 
tented  where  he  was.  The  Whigs  accepted  the  chal 
lenge  and  rallied  the  people  under  these  symbols.  The 
party  leaders  in  New  York  asked  Greeley  to  assume  the 
editorship  of  a  campaign  paper  to  be  issued  simulta- 


1  Harrison  had  been  a  candidate  in  1836,  although  the  Whig  party  as 
a  whole  had  not  nominated  him  in  a  convention. 


350 


THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 


THF  LOG 


CABIN. 


neously  in  New  York  City 
and  Albany.  On  Saturday, 
May  2,  1840,  the  Log  Cabin 
appeared  under  the  manage 
ment  of  H.  Greeley  &  Co. 
With  the  financial  backing  of 
the  New  York  Whigs,  it  was 

a  success,  and  the  compensation  it  afforded  enabled 
Greeley  to  undertake  still  another  journalistic  venture. 
The  following  April,  he  announced  a  "  New  Morning 
Journal  of  Politics,  Literature,  and  General  Intelli 
gence,"  which  would  be  "a  welcome  visitant  at  the 
family  fireside."  Associating  with  himself  in  this  Trib 
une  a  competent  business  manager,  he  soon  brought  the 
paper  to  an  unprecedented  circulation,  ranging  for  weeks 
at  a  time  above  one  hundred  thousand  copies. 

As  a  reformer  by  nature,  Greeley  opened  the  columns 
of  his  paper  to  every  worthy  cause.  When  the  Trib 
une  was  over  thirty  years  old,  he  said,  "  Doubtless 
many  readers  have  heard  of  the  Isms  of  the  Tribune 
.  .  .  and  yet  as  one  mind  has  presided  over  its  isms 
from  the  outset,  so  one  golden  thread  of  purpose  may 
be  traced  through  them  all."  At  another  time  he 
declared  that  one  had  "  better  incur  the  trouble  of  test 
ing  and  exploding  a  thousand  fallacies  than,  by  reject 
ing,  stifle  a  single  beneficent  truth." 

His  impetuous  nature  made  him  a  militant  reformer. 


HORACE  GREELEY 


351 


$)fcturrs  cf  progress. 


In  discussing  the  subject  of  woman's  rights,  he  went  to 
the  extreme  of  a  division  of  labor  between  the  sexes, 
and  was  cartooned  accordingly  by  his  critics.  As  a 
vegetarian  and  a  follower  of  the  theories  of  Dr.  Graham,1 
he  scrupulous 
ly  carried  out 
in  his  private 
life  the  sys 
tems  which  he 
advocated  as 
editor.  He  met 
the  obliga 
tions  which  he 
thought  rested 
upon  the  edi 
tor  to  instruct 
the  people 
orally  by  mak 
ing  lecture 
tours  through 
out  the  coun 
try,  until  it  was 
said  that  his 
face  was  as 
well  known  as 
that  of  Washington.  Stories  of  his  eccentricity  of  dress 
and  habits  frequently  preceded  him.  As  one  reporter 
said  :  "  Horace  Greeley  is  advertised  for  another  lecture 

1  Sylvester  Graham,  a  Presbyterian  clergyman,  published  in  1840  his 
"  Bread  and  Bread  Making,"  in  which  he  advocated  the  use  of  unbolted 
flour.  In  a  Grahamite  boarding-house  in  New  York  City,  Greeley  first  met 
Miss  Cheney,  a  Connecticut  schoolmistress,  who  afterwards  became  his  wife. 


of  the  Trilmne,  Feb.  19&. 


352          THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

to-night  at  the  Odd  Fellows  Hall  and  for  a  sermon  on 
Sunday  at  Temperance  Hall.  His  novel  appearance 
attracts  more  attention  than  his  lectures,  and  always 
secures  him  a  good  audience."  1 

Although  too  liberal  for  a  partisan,  Greeley  imagined 
himself  a  rigid  party  man.  "  An  eager,  omnivorous 
reader,  especially  of  newspapers,  from  early  childhood, 
I  was  an  ardent  politician  when  not  half  old  enough  to 
vote."2  On  the  contrary,  he  was  often  so  at  variance 
with  leaders  and  principles  that  people  were  obliged  to 
choose  between  Greeley  and  the  party.  He  felt  that 
his  efforts  for  his  party  often  went  unrewarded.  "  We 
have  done  our  share  at  shouting,  screeching,  hurrahing, 
exhorting,  entreating,  to  influence  our  readers  to  vote 
for  this  or  that  ticket  or  party."  Beginning  with  Jack 
son,  the  value  of  the  partisan  newspaper  had  been  ap 
preciated,  and  its  editor  supposed  to  be  rewarded.  But 
Greeley  was  given  nothing.  When  the  election  of  Har 
rison  first  brought  the  Whigs  into  power,  there  "  came 
the  great  scramble  of  the  small  mob  of  coon  minstrels 
and  cider  suckers  at  Washington,  I  not  being  counted 
in,"  said  Greeley.  "  I  was  sent  once  to  Congress  for 
ninety  days  merely  to  enable  Jim  Brooks  to  secure  a 
seat  therein  for  four  years."  He  was  usually  patient, 
but  the  letter3  from  which  these  sentences  are  taken 
was  the  lament  of  the  outraged  and  yet  instinctive 
spoilsman. 

If  the  party  leaders  ever  had  a  disposition  to  reward 

1  Baltimore  correspondence  in  the  Washington  Union,  March  1 6,  1850. 

2  The   quotations   from   Greeley  in   this   chapter   are    taken    from    his 
"Recollections  of  a  Busy  Life." 

3  To  Governor  Seward  of  New  York,     "Recollections,"  p.  315. 


HORACE  GREELEY  353 

Greeley,  his  conduct  during  those  ninety  days  in  Con 
gress  must  have  shown  them  what  a  dangerous  man 
he  would  be  in  office.  He  created  more  general  dis 
turbance  than  the  proverbial  bull  in  the  china  shop. 
No  sooner  did  he  see  the  manifold  abuses  which  have 
come  to  be  accepted  as  incident  to  legislative  bodies, 
than  the  politician  was  lost  sight  of  in  the  reformer. 
He  was  no  respecter  of  party  issues  nor  party  men  in 
his  reform  movements. 

Scarcely  had  he  taken  his  seat  when  he  wrote  to  the 
Tribune  about  the  shameful  waste  of  time  by  men  being 
paid  from  the  public  money,  although  custom  was  too 
strong  to  hope  for  much  relief.  "  Brethren,"  said  the 
wise  African  preacher,  "  blessed  are  they  who  expect 
nothing,  for  they  will  not  be  disappointed."  Subsequent 
editorials  were  headed,  —  "  A  Day  Overboard"  and  "Kill 
ing  Time."  "The  House  devoted  the  interval  to  doing 
nothing  —  an  employment  for  which  it  possesses  ex 
traordinary  capacities."  On  another  day,  "The  House 
accomplished  the  funeral  honors  of  one  member  last 
week,  and  by  dint  of  rigid  economy  saved  one  over  on 
whom  to  spend  to-day."  He  found  but  one  method  of 
checking  adjournment  and  that  by  demanding  the  yeas 
and  nays  upon  every  such  motion.  "  Blessed  be  the 
memory  of  the  man  who  invented  the  yeas  and  nays." 
Eventually  this  failed,  since  he  could  not  find  enough 
supporters  to  demand  the  call.  One  measure  only  was 
he  certain  would  pass  —  that  appropriating  money  for 
the  pay  of  the  members. 

Aside  from  attacking  the  pay  granted  by  law  as  being 
excessive,  he  investigated  the  amount  of  mileage  charged 
by  each  congressman  in  going  to  and  returning  from 

2A 


354 


THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 


Washington.  The  law,  framed  many  years  before  this 
time,  supposed  that  travel  could  be  performed  at  the 
rate  of  twenty  miles  per  day,  and  allowed  $8  for 
every  twenty  miles  between  the  capital  and  the  mem 
ber's  residence.  By  the  introduction  of  railways  and 
steamboat  lines,  one  could  now  travel  one  hundred  miles 
per  day  at  a  cost  of  $5,  but  the  original  rate  had 
not  been  changed.  Even  this  liberality  had  not  pre 
vented  abuse,  as  it  seemed  to  Greeley  in  examining 
the  records.  One  day  there  appeared  in  the  Tribune 
the  name  of  every  member  of  Congress,  followed  by  sta 
tistics  showing  the  sum  collected  by  the  member  and 
the  real  distance  between  his  home  and  Washington. 
Here  are  some  of  the  largest  excesses  and  the  excess 
charged  by  some  of  the  principal  members  of  Congress 
at  that  time,  as  shown  in  Greeley's  table  : 


Name 

Actual  No. 
of  Miles  by 
Post  Routes 

Miles 
charged 

Mileage 
charged 

Excess  of 
Mileage 
charged 

Albert  G.  Brown,  Miss. 

1047 

2330 

$1864.00 

$1026.40 

John  C.  Calhoun,  S.C. 

531 

923 

738.00 

3I3-60 

S.  R.  Giddings,  O. 

338 

850 

680.00 

409.60 

Andrew  Johnson,  Tenn. 

437 

590 

472.00 

122.40 

Abraham  Lincoln,  Ills. 

780 

1626 

1300.00 

676.80 

Isaac  E.  Morse,  La. 

1281 

2600 

2O8O.OO 

1055.20 

W.  W.  Downes,  La. 

1190 

2800 

2240.00 

1288.00 

Lewis  Cass,  Mich. 

524 

1081 

864.00 

445.60 

Daniel  Webster,  Mass. 

440 

530 

42O.OO 

68.00 

Total  extra  mileage  charged  —  $62,105.20. 


Greeley's  comments  were  amusing.  "Thirty  years 
ago  the  member  from  Cincinnati  jolted  in  stage-coaches 
and  charged  $400  for  the  trip.  His  successor  by  steamer 


HORACE  GREELEY 


355 


and  cars  sleeps  like  a  top  and 
travels  like  a  lord  and  yet  charges 
$632.40."  In  Alabama,  the  great 
turnpike  crossed  two  branches  of 
a  river.  A  member  who  lived 
near  one  branch  charged  mileage 
down  that  branch  and  up  the 
other  to  the  pike  road.  One 
man  in  Ohio  lived  nearer  Wash 
ington  than  another  and  yet 
charged  $400  more.  A  Louisiana 
member  in  his  "circumbendibus" 
charged  mileage  down  the  Red 
river  to  the  Mississippi,  down 
that  stream  to  New  Orleans,  and 
back  up  the  same  river  to  the 
Ohio  and  then  to  Washington. 

When  the  Tribune  containing 
these  compilations  of  Greeley 
reached  Washington,  a  "question 
of  privilege "  brought  it  to  the 
floor  of  the  House.  Greeley  was 
denounced  as  a  falsifier  and  de- 
famer  of  the  honor  of  the  mem 
bers,  and  almost  personally  as 
saulted.  He  replied  that  he 
regretted  the  figures  as  much 
as  anybody,  but  since  they  were 
taken  from  the  public  records,  he 
could  not  change  them.  In  the 
Tribune  s  account  of  the  day,  he 
said,  "Contrary  to  usual  usage  in 


ill 

ji^nili 

if 


356          THE  MEN-  WHO  MADE   THE  NATION 

the  Holiday  season,  I  believe,  and  contrary  to  my  expec 
tation,  we  have  had  a  breezy,  stirring,  spicy  sitting  in 
the  House  to-day."  And  he  assured  his  readers  that 
it  was  quite  worth  the  money  it  cost  whether  anything 
came  of  it  or  not.1 

The  reform  ended  as  most  reforms  do.  The  commit 
tee  on  mileage  was  made  the  scapegoat,  the  incident 
attributed  to  "a  demagogue  who  wants  to  make  ap 
plause,"  and  a  committee  of  investigation  appointed.  A 
few  weeks  later,  Greeley  chronicled  "  the  funeral  of 
Mileage  Reform." 

Meanwhile,  the  messengers  selected  to  carry  the  votes 
of  the  electoral  colleges  which  chose  Taylor  for  President 
had  arrived  in  Washington,  and  Greeley  began  to  investi 
gate  the  mileage  charged  by  them.  A  man  from  Maine, 
whose  actual  expense  Greeley  estimated  at  $60,  claimed 
and  received  $148.75.  One  from  Arkansas  charged 
$266.25  for  1065  miles  of  travel,  "by  Congressional  cir 
cles,"  as  the  Tribune  put  it.  These  messengers  com 
plained  that  even  this  pay  was  insufficient,  and  Congress, 
"to  avoid  reducing  their  own,"  as  Greeley  claimed, 
doubled  it. 

Writing  daily  to  the  Tribune,  Greeley  next  conceived 
a  system  of  increased  compensation  for  members  of 
Congress,  based  on  increased  length  of  service.  "The 
longer  a  man  serves  the  more  useful  he  becomes,"  was 

1  In  a  lecture  on  Lincoln,  published  in  the  twentieth  volume  of  the 
Century,  Greeley  said  of  Lincoln's  attitude  on  this  question,  "  But  as  I 
had  made  most  of  the  members  my  enemies  at  an  early  stage  of  that  short 
session  by  printing  an  elaborate  expose  of  the  iniquities  of  Congressional 
mileage;  and  as  he  did  not  join  the  active  cabal  against  me,  though  his 
mileage  figured  conspicuously  and  by  no  means  flatteringly  in  that  expose, 
I  parted  from  him  at  the  close  of  that  Congress  with  none  but  grateful 
recollections." 


HORACE  GREELEY  357 

the  principle.  In  the  same  way,  the  chairmen  of  com 
mittees  on  whom  extra  labor  devolved  were  to  be  given 
greater  pay.  When  he  offered  another  resolution,  to 
deduct  pay  for  absenteeism  of  members,  an  insinuat 
ing  amendment  was  offered  and  adopted,  to  deduct  pay 
for  the  time  spent  by  members  while  in  the  House 
engaged  in  writing  for  their  newspapers. 

In  some  such  spirit  each  of  Greeley's  reform  measures 
was  met.  He  was  always  frank,  and  added  in  his  reports, 
"  Voted  down  by  a  large  majority."  In  this  way  went 
his  effort  to  prevent  a  gift  of  $250  which  Congress  was 
accustomed  to  grant  each  clerk  and  page  before  adjourn 
ment  ;  his  labor  to  prevent  flogging  in  the  navy ;  to  stop 
the  payment  of  a  bounty  to  recruits  for  the  army ;  and 
to  cut  off  the  liquor  ration  given  to  the  sailors  of  the 
navy. 

When  the  House  finally  adjourned  after  giving  the 
usual  gratuities,  Greeley  went  over  to  the  Senate,  but 
soon  left.  The  next  day  he  wrote,  "  The  Senate  was 
still  passing  extra  gratuities  to  everybody  —  and  if  the 
bottom  is  not  out  of  the  Treasury,  may  be  doing  so 
yet  for  aught  I  know."  Returning  to  New  York,  he 
issued  an  address  to  his  constituency  and  the  people, 
explaining  his  efforts  in  their  behalf,  and  closing  with  a 
characteristic  request : 

It  is  that  you  and  they  will  oblige  me  henceforth  by  remem 
bering  that  my  name  is 

HORACE  GREELEY. 

So  closed  the  public  service  of  the  reform  editor  in 
politics.  A  fortnight  later  he  was  lecturing  throughout 
New  England  on  "My  Experience  in  Congress."  James 


358          THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION" 

Gordon  Bennett  said  in  the  Herald,  "  We  have  not 
probably,  in  the  last  thirty  years,  been  blessed  with  such 
a  perfect  specimen  of  a  little  mean  pettifogging  dema 
gogue  in  Congress  as  Hon.  Mr.  Greeley  has  furnished 
in  his  own  career  during  the  last  few  months." 

Social  reforms  Greeley  would  encourage  by  the  proper 
education  of  the  people ;  political  reforms  he  would  leave 
to  government  action  through  parties.  The  Abolition 
reform  is  now  considered  as  affiliated  with  the  great 
agitation  for  equality  of  the  second  quarter  of  the  cen 
tury,  but  to  Greeley  it  seemed  a  political  question, 
which  could  be  solved  best  through  the  regular  political 
parties.  It  had  arisen  from  small  beginnings. 

Save  for  an  occasional  anti-slavery  petition  from  the 
Friends  or  Quakers  to  Congress,  the  question  had  lain 
idle  for  the  first  forty  years  under  the  Constitution. 
The  northern  states  had  provided  for  emancipation,  and 
it  was  gradually  dying  out  in  that  section.  The  profit 
arising  from  the  increased  growth  of  cotton  in  the  ex 
treme  south  had  made  slave  labor  very  profitable,  and, 
creating  a  demand  for  slaves,  had  overcome  the  early 
anti-slavery  sentiment  in  the  border  states.  Into  this 
quiet  there  came  slowly  and  at  first  imperceptibly  the 
disturbing  factor  of  Abolitionism. 

The  great  reform  wave  which  swept  around  the  civil 
ized  globe  about  1830  took  many  shapes  in  the  United 
States.  .  The  churches  assumed  new  vigor,  especially  in 
the  missionary  field.  There  was  talk  of  evangelizing 
the  world  and  of  the  coming  of  the  millennium.  Peace 
societies  and  temperance  bands  were  formed.  An  agita 
tion  was  begun  against  carrying  the  mails  on  Sunday, 
against  the  theatres  and  lotteries.  The  condition  of  the 


HORACE  GREELEY  359 

Indian  and  of  the  slave  was  considered.  The  return  of 
the  latter  to  Africa  seemed  feasible,  and  colonization  was 
tried  anew.  One  reformer  would  devote  the  proceeds 
of  the  public  land  sales  to  the  purchase  of  the  slaves 
after  the  public  debt  had  been  paid.  Another  would 
raise  the  necessary  $2,000,000,000  by  subscription.  In 
the  dissemination  of  these  reform  ideas  the  Abolition 
press  played  no  small  part. 

Benjamin  Lundy,  a  saddler,  son  of  a  Quaker  preacher, 
wandering  from  place  to  place  with  a  small  printing 
outfit,  subsisting  no  one  knew  how,  content  if  only  he 
might  occasionally  issue  his  Genius  of  Universal  Eman 
cipation,  was  not  a  heroic  figure  in  the  political  world. 
Statesmen  were  apt  to  sneer  at  this  John  the  Baptist 
of  Abolitionism  crying  in  the  wilderness.  He  pro 
nounced  a  new  dictum, — that  slavery  was  wrong  not 
from  the  generally  accepted  standpoint  of  political -econ 
omy,  but  that  it  was  an  ethical  wrong ;  that  it  was  for 
bidden  by  God  speaking  through  the  Scripture  ;  that  the 
negro  was  a  man  and  brother. 

William  Lloyd  Garrison,  issuing  his  Liberator  from 
the  third  story  of  an  old  building  in  Boston,  with  the 

THE    LXBHRATOlt 


THE    IIBXSRATOR 


aid  of  a  printer  and  a  negro  apprentice,  was  unlikely  to 
appeal  to  a  young  man  like  Greeley,  who  looked  to  great 
parties  and  party  organs  for  needed  reforms.  Greeley 


360          THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

would  entertain  only  practical  methods,  and  Garrison's 
cry  for  "  unconditional  emancipation "  seemed  most 
impractical.  Emancipation  thus  far  in  nearly  all  the 
states  had  been  conditioned  on  age  or  service.  Slavery 
lingered  long  in  Rhode  Island,  Connecticut,  New  Jer 
sey,  and  Pennsylvania.1  As  late  as  1827,  the  last 
emancipation  law  of  New  York  had  gone  into  effect 
in  that  state  and  had  freed  almost  ten  thousand  slaves. 
Garrison,  on  the  other  hand,  argued  that  if  slavery  were 
wrong,  emancipation  was  right ;  that  if  emancipation 
were  right  in  ten  years  or  for  persons  born  hereafter  in 
slavery,  it  was  right  at  the  present  time.  He  would 
have  no  conditions. 

Nor  was  much  more  to  be  expected  from  another 
editor,  Elijah  P.  Lovejoy  of  Illinois,  who  persisted  in 
buying  one  printing-press  after  another  as  they  were 
destroyed  by  the  mobs  and  thrown  into  the  Mississippi, 
until  the  local  warfare  culminated  in  his  death.  "  He 
dieth  as  the  fool  dieth,"  declared  the  Attorney-general 
of  Massachusetts  in  the  public  meeting  called  for  Fan- 
euil  Hall.  "He  took  refuge  under  the  banner  of  liberty 
— amid  its  folds ;  and  when  he  fell,  its  glorious  stars 
and  stripes,  the  emblem  of  free  institutions,  around 
which  cluster  so  many  heart-stirring  memories,  were 
blotted  out  in  martyr's  blood,"  replied  the  young 
Wendell  Phillips. 

Of  these  apparently  futile  attempts  to  enlist  the 
American  press  in  a  philanthropic  movement,  Greeley 
afterward  said:  "Whatever  of  impunity  they  enjoyed 

1  In  1840,  there  were  1129  slaves  in  the  so-called  "free"  states.  Maine, 
Vermont,  Massachusetts,  and  Michigan,  alone  of  all  the  states  in  the  Union, 
held  no  slaves  at  that  time. 


HORACE   GREELEY  361 

throughout  the  greater  portion  of  the  North  was  accorded 
them  rather  through  contempt  for  their  insignificance 
than  willingness  to  let  them  be  heard.  .  .  .  And  while 
I  could  not  withhold  from  these  agitators  a  certain 
measure  of  sympathy  for  their  great  object,  I  was  utterly 
unable  to  see  how  their  efforts  tended  to  the  achieve 
ment  of  their  end."  Those  who  claimed  that  the  circu 
lation  of  these  Abolition  papers  and  the  pamphlets  which 
frequently  accompanied  them  bred  insurrection  among 
the  slaves,  found  an  example  in  the  Nat  Turner  rising 
of  1831.  In  one  day,  sixty-three  whites  were  murdered 
on  Virginia  plantations.  A  similar  plot  was  discovered, 
it  was  claimed,  in  North  Carolina.  The  whites  in  Vir 
ginia  soon  restored  order,  killed  thirty  of  the  negroes, 
and  then  demanded  the  suppression  of  these  disturbing 
papers  by  the  northern  state  governments. 

A  South  Carolina  paper  called  upon  the  governor  of 
that  state  "  to  demand  of  the  governors  of  the  Northern 
states  those  moral  assassins  of  life  and  character,  virtual 
Robbers  of  property,  and  actual  Incendiaries,  to  be 
delivered  up  to  justice  here  to  suffer  condign  punish 
ment  for  their  enormous  crimes  against  God,  man,  their 
country,  and  society,"  The  editors  of  the  Liberator 
were  indicted  in  North  Carolina,  and  the  taking  of  a 
copy  from  the  post-office  by  a  negro  made  a  crime. 
The  Georgia  legislature  was  reported  to  have  offered 
a  reward  for  the  arrest  and  conviction  of  its  editors. 
Abolition  efforts  continued.  In  his  Seventh  of  March 
speech,  1850,  Webster  estimated  that  "within  the  last 
twenty  years  as  much  money  had  been  collected  and 
paid  to  the  abolition  societies,  abolition  presses,  and 
abolition  lecturers,  as  would  purchase  the  freedom  of 


362 


THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 


every  slave,  man,   woman,   and  child,  in   the   State  of 
Maryland  and  send  them  all  to  Liberia." 


-*MO  MAI.VT.II.V  YOUR  POSITION 


OB  TO  i:vrri:nfcE  THI:   H  CHI  i>   in.»  WHICH   NOW 
us*  ToarrtiKK  TDK  v*uu.t  a  I-AUTS  " 


1839 
PHK  E  10  CENTS 


ANTI- ABOLITION  PAMPHLET 


A  Richmond  newspaper  had  once  insisted  that  "  the 
people  of  the  North  must  go  to  hanging  these  fanatical 
wretches  if  they  would  not  lose  the  benefit  of  the  South 
ern  trade,  and  they  will  do  it."  And  again,  "  Depend 


HORACE  GREELEY  363 

upon  it,  the  Northern  people  will  never  sacrifice  their 
present  lucrative  trade  with  the  South,  so  long  as  the 
hanging  of  a  few  thousands  will  prevent  it."  Although 
the  commercial  interests  of  the  north  might  not  use 
such  extreme  measures,  the  spirit  took  shape  in  mob 
bing  these  persistent  disturbers  of  trade.  "  Hootings, 
howlings,  blackguard  revilings,  rotten  eggs,  stoned  win 
dows,  &c.,  &c.,  were  among  the  milder  demonstrations  of 
repugnance  to  which  they  were  habitually  subjected," 
says  Greeley.  He  went  so  far  as  to  predict  that  had  it 
been  supposed  slavery  was  endangered  by  their  efforts, 
the  Abolitionists  would  scarcely  have  escaped  with  their 
lives  from  any  city  or  considerable  village  whence  they 
attempted  to  hold  forth. 

Although  sympathizing  with  this  proscribed  band, 
Greeley  had  no  part  with  them.  As  he  himself  said, 
"  I  was  never  a  member  of  any  distinctively  Abolition 
Society,  and  very  rarely  found  time  to  attend  an  Aboli 
tion  meeting."  Yet  not  one  man  in  ten  south  of  the 
Mason  and  Dixon  line  but  would  have  declared  that 
Horace  Greeley  was  one  of  the  blackest  of  black  Aboli 
tionists,  while  many  upon  the  north  of  that  line  held 
the  same  opinion.1  The  confusion  arose  from  a  failure 
to  distinguish  between  Abolition  and  "  non-extension  of 
slavery"  feeling.  Greeley  would  not  have  slavery  inter 
fered  with  except  by  lawful  means  ;  he  would  simply  con- 

1  Editors  of  southern  newspapers  circulated  lists  of  merchants  who 
advertised  in  the  Tribune,  suggesting  that  patronage  be  withheld  from 
them.  Greeley  was  indicted  at  Richmond,  Virginia,  for  circulating  an 
incendiary  publication  —  the  Tribune.  Some  postmasters  refused  to 
deliver  the  paper  at  their  offices.  Greeley  was  assaulted  personally  in  the 
streets  of  Washington,  and  his  reporters  were  at  one  time  excluded  from 
the  gallery  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 


364 


THE  MEN  WHO  MADE   THE  NATION 


fine  it  to  the  states  where  it  already  existed.  However, 
to  the  slave-holder  the  distinction  seemed  slight  since 
each  aimed  at  his  property.  The  one  would  deprive 
him  of  it  at  home,  the  other  would  prevent  him  taking 
it  with  him  to  the  western  country. 

Greeley  belonged  to  the  poorer  class  of  the  north  and 
was  unrestricted  in  his  sentiment  by  fear  of  losing 
trade  or  property.  Further,  his  was  an  unusually  sym 
pathetic  nature,  easily  appealed  to  by  human  suffering. 
He  had  been  reared  in  the  broken  parts  of  New  Hamp 
shire  and  Vermont,  where  slavery  had  scarcely  been 
known.  Above  all,  his  erratic  disposition,  when  once 
he  had  taken  a  stand,  knew  no  moderation  nor  tolerance. 


\ 


ESCAPE  OF  HENRY  Box  BROWN 


To  him  it  seemed  that  the  southern  statesmen  were 
inclined  to  demand  too  much  protection  for  their  pecu) 
iar  institution,  and  during  his  one  term  in  Congress  he 


HORACE  GREELEY  365 

reported  in  the  Tribune  that  there  was  "  too  much  foot- 
licking  by  the  Northern  members  on  the  slavery  ques 
tion."  As  far  back  as  1851  he  did  not  hesitate  to  say 
editorially :  "  We  loathe  and  detest  all  laws  which  give  or 
withhold  political  rights  on  account  of  color.  '  A  man's 
a  man  for  a*  that/  and  ought  to  have  the  full  rights  of 
manhood  whether  his  ancestors  were  Celts,  Goths,  or 
Hottentots,  whether  his  complexion  be  ebony  or  ivory." 
Abolitionists  had  not  gone  beyond  that.  When  a  negro 
was  shipped  from  Baltimore  to  Philadelphia  in  a  box, 
Greeley  said :  "  If  a  box  should  come  directed  to  us 
with  a  live  man  in  it,  we  should  at  the  very  least  pre 
sume  him  the  owner  of  himself  until  somebody  else 
proved  a  title  to  him.  That  done,  we  should  let  that 
somebody  take  his  property  running,  recognizing  no 
obligation  resting  on  us  to  help  him  catch  it."  1 

As  a  party  man,  Greeley  could  not  embrace  such 
independent  movements  as  the  Liberty  and  Free-Soil 
offshoots,  although  he  applauded  their  aim.  "  We  care 
not  how  fast  Messrs.  Birney  &  Co.2  may  ripen  public 
sentiment  in  the  North  for  Emancipation,  we  will  aid 
them  to  the  best  of  our  ability,  but  we  will  not  refuse 
the  good  now  within  our  reach,  out  of  deference  to 
that  which  is  unattainable."  He  had  no  sympathy 

1  The  experience  of  Henry  "  Box  "  Brown,  who  was  shipped  from  Balti 
more  to  Philadelphia  in  a  box,  was  widely  published  and  illustrated.     In 
1850  he  was  noted  in  the  newspapers  as  engaged  in  painting  a  panorama 
in  the  city  of  Philadelphia. 

2  In  1840,  the  Abolitionists  split  into  two  factions  on  the  question  of 
running  a  candidate  for  the  presidency.     One  wing  nominated  James  G. 
Birney  of  New  York;   the  other  formally  withdrew  from  participation  in 
the  national  government.    In  1848,  the  Birney  faction  united  with  the  Free- 
Soilers  or  Free  Democrats  in  nominating  Ex-President  Van  Buren  of  New 
York. 


366          THE  MEN   WHO  MADE  THE  NATION" 

with  the  radical  or  extreme  Abolitionists  like  Garrison, 
Phillips,  and  Tappan,  who  accused  the  people  of  allow 
ing  the  government  to  be  prostituted  to  the  use  of  the 
slave-holders.  Restricted  constantly  by  the  guarantees 
of  slavery  to  be  found  in  the  Constitution,  they  refused 
to  take  further  part  in  public  life.  The  American  Anti- 
slavery  (Abolition)  Society  resolved  "That  Secession 
from  the  United  States  government  is  the  duty  of  every 
Abolitionist ;  That  the  Abolitionists  of  this  country 
should  make  it  one  of  the  primary  objects  of  this  agita 
tion  to  dissolve  the  American  Union."  In  the  heat  of 
his  indignation,  Wendell  Phillips  cried  :  "The  Constitu 
tion  of  our  fathers  was  a  mistake.  Tear  it  to  pieces  and 
make  a  better.  ...  It  does  what  its  framers  intended  — 
protects  slavery."  Garrison  went  further  and  declared 
the  "  Union  a  Lie,  an  Imposture,  a  Covenant  with 
Death,  and  an  Agreement  with  Hell !  "  1  "  Up  with  the 
flag  of  DISUNION  that  we  may  have  a  free  and  glorious 
Republic  of  our  own ;  and  when  the  hour  shall  come, 
the  hour  will  have  arrived  that  shall  witness  the  over 
throw  of  slavery." 

Thereafter  meetings  of  Abolition  societies  were  re 
ported  in  the  Tribune  as  gatherings  of  "union-breakers," 
although  in  1854  some  radical  stanzas  on  the  Anthony 
Burns  case  appeared  in  the  Tribtme,  utterly  at  variance 
with  the  editorials,  but  for  which  Greeley  made  no 
apology.2 

1  The  Liberator,  June  20,  1856. 

2  They  were  addressed  to  the  American  flag,  and  contained  these  lines : 

"  All  hail  the  flaunting  Lie  !  "  It  shields  a  pirate's  deck, 

The  stars  grow  pale  and  dim,  It  binds  a  man  in  chains, 

The  stripes  are  bloody  scars,  It  yokes  the  captain's  neck, 

A  lie  the  vaunting  hymn.  And  wipes  the  bloody  stains." 


PRICE,    TWENTY-FIVE     CENTS. 


BOSTON  SLAVE  RIOT, 


I   A. 


BOSTON: 

FETR1DGE  AND  COMPANY 
1854. 


368          THE  MEN-  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

Greeley  had  not  joined  in  the  criticism  of  Webster 
for  his  support  of  the  Fugitive  Slave  law,  but  the  execu 
tion  of  the  law  would  impress  his  tender  nature  most 
unfavorably.  At  first,  there  seemed  to  be  no  spirit  of 
resistance  to  this  act  of  the  general  government.  A 
Kentucky  paper  described  the  return  of  thirty  slaves 
from  Ohio  "  without  encountering  the  least  obstacle,  or 
even  an  unkind  word."  Within  two  years,  over  one 
hundred  fugitives  are  recorded  as  returned,  in  addition 
to  the  many  of  which  accounts  never  found  their  way 
into  the  newspapers. 

The  first  evidence  of  mob  resistance  appeared  quite 
naturally  in  Boston,  the  home  of  Abolitionism.  The 
story  of  the  rescue  of  Shadrach  from  the  hands  of  a 
United  States  commissioner,  which  brought  out  a  proc 
lamation  of  President  Fillmore  by  the  hand  of  Secretary 
Webster,  was  printed  and  widely  circulated.  The  ex 
ample  was  imitated  in  Milwaukee,  Wisconsin,  and  in 
the  famous  case  of  Addison  in  central  Ohio.  The 
unnecessarily  brutal  methods  employed  by  some  of  the 
northern  "  nigger  hunters  "  added  to  the  sense  of  indig 
nation.  Stimulated  by  rewards  offered  by  owners,  the 
lowest  class  of  men  in  the  northern  cities  scoured  the 
country  in  search  of  negroes.  Newspaper  columns 
teemed  with  stories  of  unconscious  negroes  dragged 
before  the  commissioners  with  blood  oozing  from  their 
wounds.  In  retaliation  the  negroes  were  sometimes 
supplied  with  arms  by  their  sympathizers.  Similar 
stories  were  circulated  of  wounded  and  dying  United 
States  marshals  and  deputies.  Identification  was  almost 
impossible,  and  the  courts  often  hastened  judgment  for 
fear  of  a  rescue.  Naturally  many  captives  claimed  an 


HORACE   GREELEY  369 

alias,  and  the  suspicion  grew  among  the  northern  people 
that  free  blacks  were  being  impressed  into  slavery. 

Every  impediment  was  placed  in  the  way  of  the  claim 
ants  to  these  fugitives.  A  writ  of  habeas  corpus  was  the 
first  step,  followed  by  an  attempt  to  quash  the  indict 
ment,  or  by  an  appeal  from  the  commissioner  to  the 
state  court.  A  prolonged  war  was  inaugurated  between 
marshals,  sheriffs,  and  deputies,  which  claimed  at  least 
a  score  of  victims.1  A  justice  of  the  United  States 
Supreme  Court  said  :  "  If  any  tuppeny  magistrate  or 
any  unprincipled  interloper  can  come  in  and  cause  to  be 
arrested  the  officers  of  the  United  States,  whenever  they 
please,  it  is  a  sad  affair.  ...  If  habeas  corpuses  are  to 
be  taken  out  after  that  manner,  I  will  have  an  indict 
ment  sent  to  the  United  States  Grand  Jury  against  the 
person  who  applies  for  the  writ,  or  assists  in  getting  it, 
the  lawyer  who  defends  it,  and  the  sheriff  who  serves 
the  writ.  ...  I  will  see  that  my  officers  are  supported."2 
On  the  other  hand  the  governor  of  the  state  of  Ohio 
declared,  "  The  process  of  the  United  States  courts 
must  not  be  slighted  or  resisted  ;  but  as  long  as  I  repre 
sent  the  sovereignty  of  our  state,  I  will  see  that  the 
process  of  our  state  courts  shall  not  be  interfered 
with  or  resisted,  but  shall  be  fully  enforced."  3  It  was  a 
strange  position  into  which  this  making  of  a  nation  had 
brought  a  northern  state.  Consistency  is  an  impossi 
bility  in  a  growing  body. 

1  Many  of  these  cases  are  described  in  a  pamphlet  entitled  "  The  Fugi 
tive  Slave  Law  and  its  Victims,"  published  in  New  York  City  in  1861.    The 
illustration  on  page  375  of  the  escape  of  a  fugitive  slave  by  jumping  from 
a  window  is  taken  from  the  Child's  Edition  of  Torrey's  "  Slave  Trader." 

2  Justice  Grier. 

8  Governor  Chase. 


3/0          THE  MEN   WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

The  governor  of  Ohio  was  sustained  in  this  nullifica 
tion  attitude  by  the  "  personal  liberty  "  laws  which  many 
of  the  northern  states  had  passed  in  opposition  to,  and 
defiance  of,  the  national  Fugitive  Slave  law.  Vermont, 
Rhode  Island,  Connecticut,  Maine,  Massachusetts, 
Michigan,  Wisconsin,  Kansas,  Ohio,  and  Pennsylvania 
placed  such  laws  on  their  statute  books.  Although  not 
uniform,  they  provided  generally  that  the  claimed  person 
should  have  the  benefit  of  habeas  corpus  and  a  jury  trial ; 
that  he  be  given  counsel  at  the  expense  of  the  state ; 
that  two  witnesses  were  necessary  for  identification,  and 
that  the  use  of  the  state  jails  and  the  assistance  of  the 
state  officers  be  absolutely  forbidden  in  all  fugitive  cases. 
Heavy  punishment  was  also  provided  for  any  attempt  to 
seize  a  free  person.  These  laws  were  almost  prohibitive. 
With  possibly  no  place  to  lodge  a  captured  black,  an 
noyed  by  writs,  faced  by  good  lawyers,  unprotected  from 
the  mob,  the  United  States  official  did  not  enter  will 
ingly  upon  such  duty.  The  slave  claimer,  in  the  prob 
able  event  of  an  unfavorable  verdict  by  a  jury,  found 
himself  fined  and  imprisoned  for  attempting  to  take  a 
free  person. 

The  states  based  these  laws  upon  the  assumption  that 
the  rendition  of  fugitives  should  have  been  left  to  the 
respective  states.  If  it  should  not  have  been  so  left, 
the  action  of  the  states  was  unconstitutional.  If  it 
should  have  been,  they  were  compelling  their  officers  to 
violate  the  oath  which  they  had  taken  to  support  the 
laws  of  the  United  States  as  well  as  the  state.  It  was 
also  a  breach  of  faith  on  the  part  of  the  states  toward  the 
Union.  In  any  event,  the  states  were  assuming  to  them 
selves  the  right  to  judge  the  actions  of  a  superior  body 


HORACE  GREELEY  371 

• — the  Congress.  Although  in  the  past  insisting  that  the 
implied  powers  belonged  to  the  Union  and  that  the  final 
arbiter  was  the  Supreme  Court,  they  now  found  them 
selves  resting  upon  state  sovereignty  and  state  courts. 
When  the  United  States  Supreme  Court  reversed  such 
a  decision  of  the  Wisconsin  court,1  the  state  legisla 
ture  resolved  that  when  the  Federal  government  tran 
scends  its  power,  "  positive  defiance  "  is  the  only  remedy. 
Wisconsin,  in  1859,  had  become  the  Virginia  and  Ken 
tucky  of  1798-1799  and  the  South  Carolina  of  1832. 
People  become  forgetful  of  traditions  and  past  policies 
only  in  the  face  of  unbearable  conditions  and  on  the 
verge  of  revolution.  To  this  condition  they  had  been 
brought,  not  only  by  the  sight  of  slave  hunting,  but  by  a 
bit  of  fiction  which  made  every  runaway  a  hero  and  pos 
sibly  a  martyr. 

Literary  "hits"  were  uncommon  in  those  days. 
The  editor  of  the  National  Era,  a  weekly  "  Anti-slav 
ery,  Literary,  and  Political "  newspaper,  published  at 
Washington,  knew  not  what  the  future  had  in  store  for 
his  rather  meagre  subscription  list  when  he  made  the 
announcement  at  the  head  of  his  editorial  page  in  the 
spring  of  1851  of  a  new  story  entitled  "Uncle  Tom's 
Cabin,  or  the  Man  that  was  a  Thing."2  During  the  run 
of  the  serial,  although  the  editor  was  compelled  fre 
quently  to  apologize  for  the  absence  of  instalments 
because  of  the  non-arrival  of  the  manuscript,  readers 
began  to  send  in  testimonials  accompanied  by  lists  of 
new  subscribers.  "  We  hope  she  will  not  be  in  a  hurry 
to  finish  it,"  wrote  one,  while  another  prayed  that  she 

1  The  case  of  Ableman  vs.  Booth,  in  the  Wisconsin  Reports  for  1859. 

2  This  sub-title  was  afterward  changed  to  "  Life  Among  the  Lowly." 


372 


THE  MEN  WHO  MADE   THE  NATION 


VOL.  V.-NO.  23. 


might  keep  it  going  all  winter.  By  January,  the  editor 
was  talking  of  twenty  thousand  subscribers,  and  before 
the  serial  closed  in  March  he  had  more  than  that  num 

ber.  The  matter  was 
stereotyped  as  it  ap 
peared  in  the  Era,  and 
one  week  before  the 
last  instalment  was  due, 
"  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin  " 
appeared  in  two  vol 
umes  in  Boston.  The 
demand  was  enormous. 
"  Three  paper  mills  are 
constantly  at  work  man 
ufacturing  the  paper, 
and  three  power  presses 
are  working  twenty-four 
hours  per  day  in  print 
ing  it,  and  more  than 
one  hundred  bookbind 
ers  are  incessantly  ply 
ing  their  trade  to  bind 
them,  and  still  it  has 
been  impossible  as  yet 
to  supply  the  demand."  In  two  months,  over  one  hun 
dred  thousand  copies  had  been  sold  at  prices  ranging 
from  $i  to  $2,  plus  the  postage. 

In  1852,  the  Tribune  gave  five  columns  to  a  review  of 
this  new  work  of  fiction  in  two  volumes,1  in  the  course 
of  which  it  said,  "We  are  informed  by  the  author  that 


THK  NATIONAL  KKA. 

WASHINGTON,  Jl'XK  »,  1*>M. 

SfOIHHOHT  JBfi  R«l>  fc\    TUB  AtTHOB  I 

For  the  N»(i'.m»l  Kr» 

UftCUS  TOM'S  C-YBlfT; 

1. 1  K  F.    A  M  O  \  ( ;    T  H  I-:    \. O  W  I.  V . 

BY  .>!«"•    H,  I!.  -  < .  >u'K. 


L»te  in  tb*  afternoon  of  a  chilly  <l»y  in  Kel 
raary,two  gentlemen  were»itiiug  alone  o»er  their 

wln»     tn    a    •^IKftiimimhOii    .lining    narlflf.  <B    thp 


1  A  copy  of  the  first  edition  of  "  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin,"   the  title-page 
of  which  appears  on  the  opposite  page,  is  in  the  Library  of  Congress. 


HORACE  GREELEY 


373 


UNCLE  TOM'S  CABIN; 


LIFE    AMONG    THE   LOWLY. 


HAKKIKT   KKKrm:;i   STOWK. 


for  many  years  of  her  life  she  avoided  all  allusions  to 
the  subject  of  slavery,  on  account  of  its  painful  and 
repulsive  character,  believing  that  it  would  pass  away 

with  the  advance 

of  light  and  civil 
ization.  The  en 
actment  of  the 
Fugitive  Slave 
law  in  1850  com 
pelled  her  to  look 
at  the  subject 
with  newly  awak 
ened  interest, 
and  the  result  is 
to  be  found  in 
the  present  vol 
umes."  The  re 
view  expressed 
a  profound  con 
viction  that  this 
"  Uncle  Tom's 
Cabin"  was  des 
tined  to  add  im 
measurably  to  the 
cause  of  human 
freedom. 

The  final  effect  was  not  seen  at  first.  A  Washing 
ton  political  paper  pronounced  it  excellent  fiction,  with 
its  "  scenes  of  life  and  frolic,  which  are  likely  to  make 
the  book  current  everywhere,  North  and  South,  for  we 
are  informed  this  book  is  not  confined  to  the  limits  of 
our  land."  Another  writer  said  that  the  sales  at  first 


BOSTON: 
JOHN    P.    JEWETT   &    COMPANY. 

CLEVELAND,    OHIO: 

JEWETT,  PROCTOR  &  •WORTHISGTOX. 

1852. 


374         THE  MEN~  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

were  fully  as  large  proportionately  to  population  in  one 
section  as  in  another  ;  in  the  south  as  in  the  north.  But 
to  the  amazement  of  the  people  of  the  south,  the  readers 
in  the  north  accepted  the  work  as  fact  instead  of  fiction. 
"The  human  being  who  can  read  it  through  with  dry  eyes 
is  commended  to  Barnum,"  wrote  a  reader  to  the  Era. 

The  reason  for  this  northern  view  is  easily  found. 
The  publication  of  the  story  was  coincident  with  the 
execution  of  the  Fugitive  Slave  law  of  1850.  The 
columns  in  which  the  serial  appeared  were  surrounded 
by  descriptions  of  the  capture  and  return  of  actual  fugi 
tives.  Any  negro  returned  to  bondage  might  be  a 
saintly  Uncle  Tom  doomed  to  a  later  death  at  the  hands 
of  some  cruel  overseer.  Any  woman  with  her  child 
might  be  an  Eliza  trying  to  join  her  husband  in  a  free 
land.  The  novelist  had  created  a  sentiment  for  every 
runaway  slave. 

Under  the  influence  of  the  printing-press,  this  great 
question  had  virtually  passed  beyond  the  politicians  to 
the  people.  It  is  astonishing  that  party  leaders  still 
hoped  to  settle  it  by  ignoring  it  and  introducing  some 
other  subject.1 

The  election  of  1852  was  as  nearly  a  farce  as  the 
American  people,  bound  in  their  political  machinery, 
have  ever  been  compelled  to  go  through.  Each  party 
in  making  nominations  was  seeking  for  a  man  without 
a  record  on  this  disturbing  slavery  question ;  a  neutral 

1  In  an  editorial  just  before  the  Whig  nomination  of  1852,  Greeley  said  : 
"  And  it  is  so  easy  and  natural  for  forty  or  fifty  good  fellows  around  a 
bountiful  dinner  table  to  harmonize  and  fraternize  on  a  suggested  course, 
and  fancy  the  people  will  readily  fall  in  —  forgetting  that  the  rich,  warm 
light  in  which  the  matter  glows  through  their  wine-glasses  will  be  absent 
when  it  strikes  the  public  eye." 


HORACE  GREELEY 


375 


man  who  would  not  bring  tint  to  litmus  paper;  a  light 
so  dull  that  no  radiance  should  be  expected  upon  this 
problem,  or  so  brilliant  that  it  would  blind  the  eyes  of 
the  people  to  this  domestic  issue.  The  Democrats 
selected  Pierce  of  New 
Hampshire,  almost 
unknown,  and  hence 
uncommitted  on  the 
disturbing  question. 
The  Whigs  chose  a 
war  hero,  General 
Winfield  Scott,  of  the 
regular  army,  who  was 
therefore  an  ideal  can 
didate.  The  flag  of 
our  country !  Glori 
ous  war  record  in 
Mexico !  No  civil  rec 
ord  on  anything ! 
With  these  ideal  can 
didates,  standing  on 
conservative  plat 
forms  and  the  Com 
promise  of  1850,  the 
party  leaders  fondly 
imagined  that  they  -  ESCAPE  OF  A  FUGITIVE  SLAVE 
could  continue  to  throw  dust  in  the  eyes  of  the  people 
and  keep  down  the  slavery  issue.1 

1  The  Whigs  had  never  succeeded  in  electing  a  candidate  except  Har 
rison  and  Taylor,  both  war  heroes.  They  hoped  to  repeat  the  story  with 
"  Old  Chippewa  "  Scott.  Lowell  ridiculed  this  practice  under  "  Old  Tim- 
bertoes"  in  the  first  series  of  the  "  Biglow  Papers." 


HORACE   GREELEY  377 

If  strong  men  cried  out  because  of  the  darkness  of 
the  night,  indications  were  not  wanting  that  a  dawn  of 
new  and  better  things  was  approaching.  It  was  the 
last  campaign  for  the  old  Whig  party.  It  had  forfeited 
its  life.  Horace  Greeley  in  the  Tribune  began  to  speak 
of  "the  late  Whig  party,"  and  soon  changed  the  name 
of  his  widely  circulated  "Whig  Almanac"  to  "The 
Tribune  Almanac."  Although  supporting  the  Whig 
candidate  for  party's  sake,  he  "  spat  upon  "  the  plat 
form,  as  he  said  editorially.  With  the  deaths  of  Clay 
and  Webster  the  compromising  party  perished,  to  be 
replaced  by  a  new  spirit  of  uncompromising  hostility  to 
the  further  growth  of  slavery.  It  was  to  come  from 
the  masses  of  sound  thinking,  right  judging,  plain  peo 
ple,  who  could  no  longer  be  led  by  a  "  Godlike  "  coun 
sellor  or  "  an  idol  of  the  people,"  but  were  to  bring  for 
ward  a  new  guide,  untrained  by  surroundings  other  than 
their  own.  For  years,  Horace  Greeley  and  his  Tribune 
had  been  preparing  just  such  an  independent  thinking 
constituency.  His  was  the  hand  that  closed  the  dying 
eyes  of  the  old  Whig  party ;  but  his  also  was  the  hand 
which  helped  rock  the  cradle  of  the  heir  to  the  throne 
—  the  infant  Republican  party. 


CHAPTER    XII 

ABRAHAM    LINCOLN,    A    NEW   TYPE    OF    AMERICAN 

"I  am  young  and  unknown  to  many  of  you.  I  was  born,  and 
have  ever  remained,  in  the  most  humble  walks  of  life.  I  have 
no  wealthy  or  popular  relations  or  friends  to  recommend  me. 
My  case  is  thrown  exclusively  upon  the  independent  voters  of 
the  county."  —  Address  of  A.  Lincoln  to  the  voters  of  Sanga- 
mon  county,  Illinois,  1832. 

THE  quiescent  years  which  immediately  followed  the 
compromise  of  1850  gave  comfort  to  those  who  had 
feared  the  dissolution  of  the  Union  and  for  the  time 
proved  their  prediction  that  compromise  alone  could 
accomplish  this  salvation.  The  old  leaders  seemed  to 
have  passed  with  the  old  regime.  Calhoun  had  died  in 
the  midst  of  the  conciliatory  measures  ;  two  years  later, 
Henry  Clay  and  Daniel  Webster  passed  away ;  Benton 
had  finished  his  thirty  years'  service  in  the  Senate  and 
was  gradually  retiring  from  national  view.  There 
remained  only  the  statesmen  of  a  later  school  —  Cass, 
Everett,  Buchanan,  Marcy,  Davis,  and  Seward  —  edu 
cated  men,  trained  in  the  art  of  diplomacy  and  the 
finesse  of  political  management.  Their  footsteps  were 
not  easily  regulated  by  the  march  of  the  people.  They 
had  been  taught  to  believe  that  the  voice  of  the  politi 
cian  is  the  voice  of  the  people  ;  that  the  masses  must  be 
led  and  are  willing  to  be  led  blindly. 

378 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN  379 

On  the  contrary,  the  time  was  at  hand  for  a  new 
leader,  one  able  to  hear  and  willing  to  obey  the  public 
will.  He  must  come  from  the  people  themselves  and  be 
trained  by  their  environment.  Presumably  such  a  char 
acter  had  arrived  on  foot  in  the  little  village  of  Win 
chester,  in  western  Illinois,  some  twenty  years  before. 
With  thirty-seven  and  one-half  cents  in  his  pocket, 
Stephen  A.  Douglas,  a  Vermonter,  began  a  public 
career  which  placed  him  in  the  United  States  Senate 
before  1850,  and  retained  him  there  fourteen  years. 
Higher  honors  seemed  within  his  reach.  During  the 
forty-nine  ballots  taken  in  the  Democratic  convention 
at  Baltimore  in  1852,  the  name  of  Douglas  at  one  time 
attracted  ninety-two  votes,1  although  Pierce  was  finally 
nominated.  Of  these  ninety-two  votes  not  one-third 
came  from  the  south,  where  the  strength  of  the  party 
lay. 

Douglas  was  a  man  of  unusual  ability  and  of  pardon 
able  ambition.  If  he  deliberately  set  about  to  gain  the 
gratitude  of  the  south  before  the  next  election,  to 
secure  the  117  votes  which  that ^  section  would  hold,  the 
action  would  not  be  blamable  if  the  means  employed 
should  be  equally  free  from  criticism.  One  marvels 
that  such  a  shrewd  man  should  have  chosen  the  buried 
slavery  question  as  the  means  to  this  end.  Its  resur 
rection  alone  would  prejudice  its  case.  However,  Doug 
las's  shrewdness  may  have  caused  him  to  see  that  the  lull 
was  only  temporary  ;  that  it  must  break  out  again  in  the 
course  of  the  western  expansion  of  the  people.  The  man 
who  could  offer  a  satisfactory  solution  for  this  coming 
problem  must  secure  the  good-will  of  both  sections. 

1  The  number  necessary  to  a  choice  was  188. 


380         THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

The  word  "  Nebraska  "  covered  a  vast  tract  of  Indian 
country,  extending  from  Iowa  and  Missouri  to  the 
Rocky  Mountains,  and  in  a  north  and  south  direction 
from  Indian  Territory  to  the  Canadian  line.  The  Cali 
fornia  migration  across  the  plains  demanded  some  kind 
of  territorial  organization,  and  Douglas,  as  chairman  of 
the  Senate  committee  on  territories,  brought  in  a  report 
to  that  effect.  Lying  to  the  north  of  the  slavery  indus 
tries  belt,  and  in  the  due  west  line  of  free  labor,  the 
chances  were  that  the  laws  of  the  movement  of  the 
people  would  make  it  a  non-slavery  country.  This  law 
of  nature  had  been  supplemented  by  the  Compromise  of 
1820,  which  admitted  the  slave  state  of  Missouri,  and 
then  drew  a  hard  and  fast  line  between  slave  and  free 
soil  on  the  line  of  ''thirty-six  thirty."1 

Some  questioned  whether  an  agreement  so  restrict 
ing  the  future  was  binding  upon  succeeding  generations. 
Others  thought  that  Congress  possessed  no  power  to 
prevent  slavery  in  a  territory,  but  that  the  question 
should  be  left  to  the  people  who  formed  a  state  out  of 
that  territory.  Dividing  the  region  into  two  territories, 
Kansas  and  Nebraska,  and  incorporating  an  amendment 
explicitly  repealing  the  Missouri  Compromise,  Douglas 
pushed  such  a  bill  through  the  Senate  in  thirty-three 
days,  arbitrarily  and  almost  discourteously.  His  political 

1  The  Mason  and  Dixon  line,  the  boundary  between  Pennsylvania  and 
Maryland,  which  had  been  run  by  those  two  surveyors,  became  the  first 
dividing  line  between  slave  and  free  states,  simply  because  all  the  states 
lying  to  the  north  freed  their  slaves.  The  ordinance  of  the  Northwest 
Territory  made  the  Ohio  river  an  extension  of  this  dividing  line.  The 
larger  part  of  the  proposed  state  of  Missouri  lay  to  the  north  of  the  mouth 
of  the  river,  but  south  of  the  head  of  the  river.  Therefore,  that  state  was 
admitted  as  slave,  but  all  other  states  formed  from  Jhe  Louisiana  purchase 
west  of  her  and  north  of  her  southern  boundary  (36°  30')  were  to  be  free. 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN  381 

fortune  was  at  stake,  and  he  could  not  risk  delay  until 
the  north  had  become  aroused.  On  the  last  day  of 
debate  in  the  Senate,  he  spoke  until  daylight  to  crowded 
galleries,  and  in  the  gray  light  of  dawn  he  won  by  a  vote 
of  37  to  14.  The  firing  of  cannon  at  the  navy  yard 
announced  his  victory,  but  one  of  his  opponents  truly 
said  that  the  echoes  would  not  die  away  until  slavery 
itself  was  dead. 

Douglas  followed  the  bill  over  to  the  House,  using 
his  lieutenants  and  the  administration,  and  in  two 
months  secured  its  passage  by  113  to  100.  Excitement 
ran  high;  128  speeches  were  made;  one  session  of 
thirty-six  hours  exhausted  the  members ;  arms  were 
brought  on  the  floor ;  and  at  one  time  bloodshed  was 
with  difficulty  avoided.1 

The  effect  upon  the  north  was  beyond  description. 
Douglas  had  said  :  "  I  shall  be  assailed  by  demagogues 
and  fanatics  there,  without  stint  or  moderation.  Every 
opprobrious  epithet  will  be  applied  to  me.  I  shall  prob 
ably  be  hung  in  effigy  in  many  places.  This  proceed 
ing  may  end  my  political  career.  But  acting  under  the 
sense  of  duty  which  animates  me,  I  am  prepared  to 
make  the  sacrifice."  He  made  the  mistake  of  think 
ing  that  the  ensuing  "tornado"  had  been  raised  "by 
Abolitionists,  and  Abolitionists  alone."  The  northern 
newspapers  almost  regardless  of  party  blew  the  first 
blasts.  They  devoted  columns  to  descriptions  of  the 

1  This  theory  of  home  rule,  or  "  squatter  sovereignty,"  had  been  formu 
lated  by  Cass,  of  Michigan,  some  years  before.  Douglas's  bill  declared 
that  it  was  "  the  true  intent  and  meaning  of  this  act  not  to  legislate  slavery 
into  any  territory  or  state,  nor  to  exclude  it  therefrom,  but  to  leave  the 
people  thereof  perfectly  free  to  form  and  regulate  their  domestic  institu 
tions  in  their  own  way." 


382          THE  MEN  WHO  MADE   THE  NATION 

indignation  meetings,  and  one  declared  that  if  it  had 
three  times  as  much  space  and  were  issued  thrice  a 
day  room  would  still  be  wanting  for  the  resolutions. 
Greeley  assured  Douglas  that  he  had  made  more 
Abolitionists  than  Garrison  and  Phillips  had  done  in 
fifty  years.  Ten  state  legislatures  added  their  voices  of 
protest.  Two  thousand  censuring  sermons  were  said 
to  have  been  preached  in  New  England.  Memorials 
poured  into  Washington.  One  was  presented  which 
bore  the  signatures  of  over  three  thousand  clergymen. 
Douglas  himself  presented  one  from  five  hundred  Chi 
cago  clergymen.  Rash  characters  were  not  lacking  to 
write  him  insulting  rejoicings  at  the  recent  death  of 
his  wife,  a  southern  woman,  and  to  predict  still  more 
bereavements. 

Stephen  Arnold  Douglas  became  Benedict  Arnold 
Douglas.  Men  demanded  to  be  shown  the  thirty  pieces 
of  silver  for  which  he  had  betrayed  his  master — the 
people.  In  derision,  that  sum  was  sent  him  by  some 
women  of  Ohio.  He  testified  that  he  could  have  trav 
elled  from  Washington  to  Chicago  by  the  light  of  him 
self  burning  in  effigy.  When  he  did  reach  home  the 
people  of  Chicago  jeered  and  hissed  him  until,  after 
three  hours'  attempt,  he  retired  from  the  platform  with 
out  speaking.  If,  as  his  critics  said,  Douglas  had  "de 
sired  to  buy  the  South  at  the  presidential  shambles," 
he  paid  the  penalty.1  He  may  have  gained  the  good 
will  of  Missouri  and  the  few  states  directly  interested 

1  It  should  be  stated  that  Douglas  and  his  friends  always  contended 
that  he  had  been  moved  by  his  sense  of  justice  and  not  by  ambition.  He 
used  frequently  to  say :  "  God  Almighty  placed  man  on  the  earth  and  told 
him  to  choose  between  good  and  evil.  That  was  the  origin  of  the  Nebraska 
bill." 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN-  383 

in  opening  new  slave  territory,  but  his  scheme  did  not 
appeal  to  the  Gulf  states,  where  the  price  of  slaves 
would  be  increased  with  each  extension  of  slavery.  He 
lost  the  leadership  of  the  young  Democracy  of  the 
north,  those  who  might  wish  to  migrate  to  Kansas  but 
had  no  desire  to  compete  with  slave  labor.  The  Ger 
mans  shared  this  feeling,  and  they  held  the  preponder 
ance  of  political  power  in  the  northwest. 

The  farthest-reaching  effect  of  this  reopening  of  the 
slavery  question  was  not  the  failure  of  Douglas,  but  the 
turning  of  public  men  again  into  politics.  Their  ser 
vices  were  needed  to  fill  the  breach  made  in  the  com 
promise  bulwarks  of  a  free  north.  Among  these  was 
the  man  destined  by  a  natural  endowment  of  sound 
judgment  and  an  environment  of  practical  training  to 
assume  the  vacant  leadership  which  Douglas  had  tried 
for  but  lost.  "  I  was  losing  interest  in  politics  when 
the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise  aroused  me 
again,"  declared  Abraham  Lincoln  in  a  subsequent 
speech.  Douglas  was  in  1860  what  was  called  a  west 
ern  man  and  a  man  of  the  people  ;  yet  he  had  been 
born  in  Vermont,  and  represented  only  the  transplanted 
product  of  the  west.  Lincoln  was  for  two  generations 
at  least  the  creation  of  the  American  frontier. 

The  westward  movement  of  the  people  had  produced 
that  peculiar  line  along  the  front  edge  of  population 
known  as  the  frontier.1  Occupying  succeeding  lines 
of  position  westwardly,  its  advance  may  be  noted  by 
chronological  order.  The  type  of  people  on  the  Atlantic 

1  A  study  of  the  sociological  aspects  of  the  building  of  the  American 
nation  during  the  crossing  of  the  continent  may  be  found  in  the  author's 
tf  The  Expansion  of  the  American  People." 


3*4 


THE  MEN  WHO  MADE   THE  NATION 


coast  plain  was  a  reflection  of  the  old  world.  Clay  rep 
resented  the  first  frontier  after  the  movement  across  the 
mountains  had  begun.  Jackson,  of  Tennessee,  illustrates 
a  frontier  farther  removed  from  eastern  influence,  and 
therefore  a  cruder  and  more  native  element.  Abraham 
Lincoln  represents  a  later  and  more  westward  location, 
and  is  therefore  a  still  more  representative  product  of 
American  environment.  Clay  and  Jackson  were  born 


CARTOON  ON  LINCOLN  COERCING  THE  SOUTH 

on  the  Atlantic  slope.  Lincoln  was  entirely  a  creation 
of  the  inland  region.  If  the  American  people,  under 
possibilities  of  wealth  and  luxury  surpassing  those  of 
Rome,  have  avoided  the  enervation  and  effeminacy  which 
destroyed  that  nation,  it  is  largely  because  of  this  fron 
tier,  which  has  constantly  stimulated  and  revived  the 
older  portion  with  rich  young  blood  from  near  to  nature's 
heart. 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN  385 

Lincoln  is  the  first  and,  by  a  combination  of  circum 
stances,  the  foremost  representative  of  this  isolated 
frontier  type.  At  the  same  time,  he  is  the  last  of  his 
kind,  since  the  rapid  increase  of  means  of  communica 
tion  and  the  passing  of  the  crude  frontier  have  made  a 
duplication  impossible.  He  was  a  new  type  of  American. 
Those  who  believe  in  the  preparation  of  an  agent  for 
a  given  purpose  need  not  search  far  for  the  influences 
which  fitted  Lincoln  for  his  peculiar  task. 

The  environment  of  the  frontier  begot  self-help.  This 
was  illustrated  by  every  step  in  the  training  of  Lincoln. 
Whether  mastering  English  grammar  at  the  age  of 
twenty-three  or  six  books  of  Euclid  when  he  was  past 
thirty-five,  whether  he  guided  his  flatboat  down  the 
Sangamon,  or  procured  a  compass  and  chain,  studied 
Flint  and  Gibson  a  little,  and  "went  at  it"  as  a  deputy 
surveyor,  the  lesson  was  preparing  him  for  a  rulership 
where  he  must  cast  aside  a  multitude  of  discordant 
counsels  and  depend  upon  his  own  judgment.  The 
problems  of  the  frontier  life  were  not  to  be  solved 
by  a  text-book ;  neither  were  the  problems  confronting 
that  President  who  should  follow  the  reopening  of  the 
slavery  discord.  Precedent  was  wanting  in  both  cases. 
Originality  was  demanded. 

The  spirit  of  investigation  engendered  by  life  on  the 
frontier  was  an  excellent  fitting  for  thorough  inspection 
and  for  slow  action.  When  the  question  of  internal 
improvements  was  paramount  in  Sangamon  county  in 
1832,  Lincoln  in  his  address  to  the  voters  was  able  to 
speak  from  actual  experience  of  the  stages  of  water 
in  the  Sangamon  river  concerning  the  possibility  of 
making  it  navigable  for  large  craft.  His  patent  for 

2C 


386          THE  MEN  WHO  MADE   THE  NATION 

buoying  up  vessels  over  shoal  water  was  due  to  flatboat 
experience.  When  he  gave  his  lecture  on  "  Discoveries, 
Inventions,  and  Improvements,"  he  was  reflecting  this 
side  of  the  border  training.  His  dissection  of  the  me 
chanical  toys  of  his  children  illustrates  the  same  thing. 
For  his  utensils  and  tools,  the  frontiersman  must  depend 
largely  upon  his  ingenuity,  and  must  be  extremely  care 
ful  in  their  use,  since  they  could  not  easily  be  replaced. 
The  peculiar  characteristic  of  Lincoln's  administration 
was,  that  he  never  did  anything  so  hastily  that  he  was 
obliged  to  undo  it. 

When  Lincoln  addressed  the  people  his  language  was 
the  simple  speech  of  the  frontier,  convincing  in  its  direct 
ness  and  offensive  only  to  overtrained  ears.  When  he 
delayed  issuing  the  Proclamation  of  Emancipation,  in 
accord  with  his  promise  to  himself  and  his  Maker,  until 
the  enemy  had  been  driven  out  of  Maryland,  he  was 
simply  demonstrating  the  reliance  of  the  borderer  on  a 
personal  God.1  In  the  lonely  vastnesses  of  frontier  sur 
roundings,  religious  feeling  was  closely  akin  to  both 
superstition  and  melancholy.  In  his  private  correspond 
ence,  Lincoln  sometimes  says,  "  I  always  was  super 
stitious,"  and  again,  "I  was  drawn  to  it  by  fate."  In 
condoling  with  a  friend  upon  his  fears  lest  he  do  not 
love  the  woman  he  is  about  to  wed,  Lincoln  insists  that 
"our  forebodings  are  all  the  worst  sort  of  nonsense." 
But  he  adds,  "You  know  the  hell  I  have  suffered  on 
that  point  and  how  tender  I  am  upon  it."  Sometimes 
he  is  "quite  free  from  the  'hypo,'"  and  again  "My 
spirits  are  gotten  so  low  that  I  feel  that  I  would  rather 

1  Chase,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  describes  the  dramatic  situation  in 
his  diary  for  September  22,  1862.  See  Shucker's  "  Life  of  Chase,"  p.  453. 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN"  387 

be  in  any  place  in  the  world  than  here."  Only  an 
appreciation  of  this  element  in  Lincoln's  life  can  explain 
his  conduct  in  his  love  affairs  ;  nothing  save  his  own 
realization  of  this  tendency  can  explain  the  manner  in 
which  this  strong  man  by  his  homely  stories  and  sorry 
jests  tried  to  avoid  the  end  to  which  this  melancholy 
would  naturally  lead. 

Removed  from  the  conservatism  of  the  older  states, 
the  frontiersmen  were  never  bound  by  strict  allegiance 
to  party.  Nearly  every  variation  from  the  established 
parties  had  come  from  the  western  people.  This  ten 
dency  was  now  to  have  a  fresh  illustration,  and  Lincoln's 
attitude  was  to  be  typical  of  his  people. 

The  long-continued  agitation  of  the  slavery  question 
had  cut  deep  lines  across  the  Whig  and  Democratic 
parties,  although  enough  supporters  remained  in  each 
to  maintain  their  existence.  Men  from  both  parties, 
who  opposed  the  extension  of  slavery  in  the  territories 
in  general,  had  formed  the  Free-Soil  party.1  Where 
its  membership  was  made  up  most  largely  of  former 
Democrats,  the  party  was  called  Free  Democrat  or  Free- 
Soil  Democrat.  The  passage  of  the  Douglas  bill  crystal 
lized  these  elements,  together  with  the  Know-Nothings,2 
into  a  regular  party.  A  state  convention  was  called  at 
Jackson,  Michigan,3  July  6,  of  "all  our  fellow-citizens, 
without  reference  to  former  political  associations,  who 
think  that  the  time  has  arrived  for  a  union  at  the  North 

1  The  Free-Soil  party  was  formed  from  a  fusion  of  the  Liberty  party  and 
the  Barnburners  of  New  York  in  1840. 

2  The  Know-Nothing  or  Native  American  party,  formed  about  1842,  was 
another  of  these  offshoots  which  indicated  the  political  unrest  of  the  times. 

3  A  local  convention  was  held  at  Ripon,  Wisconsin,  in  March  preceding, 
to  form  a  new  party. 


388 


THE  MEN  WHO  MADE   THE  NATION 


to  protect  liberty  from  being  overthrown  and  down-trod 
den."  Thousands  gathered  under  the  oaks  near  the  race 

track,  on  ground 
now  a  part  of  the 
city  of  Jackson, 
adopted  the  name 
"  Republican,"  and 
drew  up  a  platform 
protesting  against 
the  repeal  of  the 
Compromise  line 
and  the  opening 
of  the  territories 
to  the  chances  of 
slavery.  Candi 
dates  for  the  state 
offices  were  nomi 
nated  on  this  plat 
form.1 

Similar  "  Repub 
lican  "  party  con 
ventions  were  held 

a  week  later  in  Wisconsin,  Vermont,  Ohio,  and  Massachu 
setts.  During  the  ensuing  October,  while  the  Illinois 
state  fair  was  being  held  at  Springfield,  public  announce 
ment  was  made,  at  a  political  meeting,  of  a  convention  to 
organize  the  Republican  party  in  that  state.  Lincoln 

1  The  Jefferson  men  were  called  "  Republicans  "  in  1800.  After  the  end 
of  the  era  of  good  feeling,  the  Clay  and  Adams  men  were  sometimes  called 
"  National  Republicans."  The  Whigs  frequently  used  the  word  "  Repub 
lican"  in  their  platforms.  It  was  by  no  means  a  new  name,  but  under  it 
was  organized  a  new  party.  The  favorite  campaign  song  of  1860  had  for 
a  chorus,  "  Ain't  I  glad  I  joined  the  Republicans." 


SCENE  OF  THE  REPUBLICAN  CONVENTION, 
JACKSON,  MICHIGAN 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN-  389 

objected  to  his  name  being  added  later  to  the  call  for  a 
Republican  state  convention.  "  I  suppose  my  opposition 
to  the  principle  of  slavery  is  as  strong  as  that  of  any 
member  of  the  Republican  party ;  but  I  have  also  sup 
posed  that  the  extent  to  which  I  feel  authorized  to  carry 
that  opposition,  practically,  was  not  at  all  satisfactory  to 
that  party."  He  was  satisfied  later,  and  became  an  ac 
tive  member  of  the  party.  In  its  national  convention  in 
1856,  he  received  101  votes  for  the  nomination  for  Vice- 
President.  He  was  one  of  four  men  constituting  a 
"mass  "  meeting  at  Springfield  to  ratify  the  action  of 
the  Republican  state  convention. 

The  Illinois  friends  of  this  unusual  man  began  to 
entertain  the  most  ambitious  hopes  for  him,  and  in  their 
unskilled  but  effective  manner  they  tried  to  make  his 
good  qualities  known  to  the  east.  He  had  acquired 
some  fame  as  a  stump  speaker  at  the  agricultural  fairs, 
in  the  local  campaigns,  and  especially  as  the  opponent 
of  the  "  Little  Giant,"  Douglas,  in  the  arranged  debate 
of  I858.1  He  was  also  known  as  a  lecturer.  One  must 
appreciate  the  use  to  which  the  lyceum  was  put  in  the 
middle  west,  where  newspapers  were  few  and  periodicals 
a  luxury,  to  understand  why  Lincoln  trained  himself  by 
writing  serious  lectures  upon  Law,  Slavery,  Temperance, 
Sectionalism,  and  The  Perpetuation  of  our  Political  Insti 
tutions.  He  delivered  some  of  these  lectures  before  vari 
ous  clubs  throughout  Illinois  and  Kansas. 

1  Political  debates  were  not  at  all  uncommon  in  the  western  country. 
At  nearly  every  patriotic  celebration  or  agricultural  fair  there  was  "  speak 
ing,"  which  frequently  led  to  an  impromptu  debate.  Lincoln  and  Douglas 
often  met  thus  upon  the  platform  prior  to  the  set  debate  between  them, 
which  was  held  at  seven  different  places  and  covered  several  months.  The 
immediate  prize  was  the  United  States  Senate,  and  Douglas  won. 


390       THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

It  was  this  combined  reputation  which  secured  for 
him  an  invitation  to  deliver  a  "political  lecture"  in 
New  York  City,  although  he  was  afterward  criticised 
for  accepting  $200  for  it.1  The  Tribune  declared  that 
"  No  man  ever  before  made  such  an  impression  on  his 
first  appeal  to  a  New  York  audience."  Those  who 
expected  to  be  amused  by  a  medley  of  homely  stories 
and  crude  western  colloquialisms  found  a  polished  dic 
tion  oddly  at  variance  with  his  reputation  among  them. 
The  habit  of  recasting  the  thoughts  of  others  in  the 
best  words  he  could  find  had  given  Lincoln  command 
of  the  style  of  the  classics  with  the  vocabulary  of  the 
Saxon,  whenever  he  chose  to  exercise  them. 

If  Lincoln's  friends  hoped  that  a  favorable  impression 
made  in  New  York  could  persuade  the  eastern  people 
to  look  upon  him  as  a  presidential  possibility,  they  could 
not  have  read  with  patience  the  statement  made  in  the 
most  enthusiastic  report  of  the  lecture,  that  "it  is  not 
probable  that  Mr.  Lincoln  will  be  heard  again  in  our 
city  this  year,  if  ever."  Nor  could  they  have  been  more 
pleased  with  the  three  cheers  for  Seward  which  the 
audience  gave  before  dispersing.  Their  candidate  was 
truly  in  the  enemy's  country. 

With  all  his  ability,  Seward  was  not  the  man  for  the 
hour.  He  would  have  dealt  with  the  problem  as  a 
trained  statesman.  Not  indeed  along  the  old  line  of 
compromise  and  conciliation,  but  as  a  radical  northern 
man,  hostile  to  the  slavery  system  and  hostile  to  the 

1  The  invitation  came  from  the  Young  Men's  Central  Republican  Union, 
and  the  address  was  delivered  in  the  Cooper  Institute.  Lincoln  had  sup 
posed  he  was  to  speak  in  Beecher's  church.  Since  an  admission  fee  was 
charged,  he  could  not  see  why  he  should  be  criticised  for  receiving  pay. 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN  391 

slave  owners.  Some  Princeton  students,  who  burned 
him  in  effigy  as  the  supposedly  remote  cause  of  the 
John  Brown  raid,  were  not  the  only  ones  who  dreaded 
while  they  detested  his  attitude.  Lincoln  was  never 
accused  of  supporting  Brown.  The  final  great  task 
before  the  new  leader  was  not  to  kill  slavery,  not  even 
to  suppress  rebellion ;  but  to  preserve  the  Union  and 
especially  to  restore  the  Union.  A  rabid  anti-slavery 
man  who  believed  in  a  higher  law  might  have  brought 
about  the  former  ends  ;  he  could  not  have  accomplished 
the  latter.  Bayonets  could  be  only  a  temporary  agency v 
As  the  campaign  year  of  1860  opened,  Greeley  declared 
in  the  Tribune  that  the  political  leaders  talked  to  the 
people  as  if  they  believed  them  to  be  fools,  and  at  the 
same  time  he  gave  warning  that  the  people  could  not  be 
misled  much  longer.  When  the  time  came  for  discuss 
ing  possible  candidates,  the  Courier  and  Enquirer  said 
that  the  Republican  party,  being  sane,  would  nomi 
nate  no  other  man  than  William  Henry  Seward.  This 
was  the  accepted  opinion  in  the  eastern  states,  with  the 
possible  exception  of  Greeley,  who  favored  Bates,  of 
Missouri.  Seward,  virtually  the  head  of  the  Republi 
can  party,  a  college-bred  man,  trained  by  a  long  career 
in  public  life,  an  unyielding  advocate  of  northern  prin 
ciples,  where  the  strength  of  the  party  lay,  possessed  all 
the  qualifications  necessary  for  an  "available"  candi 
date.  Aside  from  personal  animosity  against  Seward, 
Greeley  was  keen  enough  to  see  that  the  times  demanded 
a  change  ;  that  the  continued  westward  movement  had 
brought  the  period  for  another  shifting  of  the  balance 
of  political  power.  He  gave  space  in  his  columns  to 
letters  from  western  correspondents  describing  as  a  pos- 


392          THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

sible  candidate  "Abe  Lincoln."  An  "  Old  Man  "  sent 
a  short  biography  from  Mason  county,  Illinois,  describ 
ing  Lincoln  reading  his  borrowed  law  books  by  candle 
light  and  splitting  rails  to  pay  for  the  candle.  His  kind 
ness  was  illustrated  by  a  story  of  his  helping  an  oppo 
nent  in  a  law  case.  Another  correspondent  told  how 
young  Lincoln  had  pulled  fodder  two  days  to  pay  for 
Weems's  "  Life  of  Washington  "  which  he  had  borrowed 
and  had  accidentally  damaged  by  water.  From  an  "  Hon 
est  Carpenter  "  came  the  story  of  Lincoln,  the  man  of 
the  people,  defending  a  case  for  two  days  and  charging 
a  poor  man  only  two  dollars.  "  A  Thrilling  Episode  in 
the  Life  of  *  Abe  Lincoln '  "  was  a  description  of  his 
defence  of  young  Armstrong  for  murder.  The  men  of 
the  prairie  might  lack  political  training,  but  they  knew 
how  to  bring  things  to  pass. 

The  people  of  the  eastern  states  began  gradually  to 
learn  about  the  campaign  methods  of  the  westerners. 
They  heard  of  the  scene  in  the  Illinois  state  Republi 
can  convention  at  Decatur,  which  met  in  "a  rudely  con 
structed  shelter,"  when  two  men  came  forward  from  the 
entrance  bearing  a  banner  stretched  between  two  com 
mon  walnut  fence  rails.  On  the  banner  was  printed  :  — 


ABE  LINCOLN 
The  Rail  Candidate 
for  President  in  1860 

Two  rails,  being  part  of  3000  cut  in  1830,  ten 
miles  south  of  Decatur,  by  Abe  Lincoln  and 
John  Hanks 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN  393 

It  was  said  that  Lincoln  himself  rose  above  such 
small  tricks  to  catch  pgpular  favor ;  that  when  asked 
about  the  rails  he  had  said  :  "  I  did  land  in  Macon 
county  a  very  poor  boy ;  cleared  ground,  put  up  a  log 
house,  and  split  about  3000  rails.  Now,  whether  these 
two  rails  are  specimens  of  what  I  made  then,  of  course 
I  cannot  say;  but  one  thing  I  will  say  —  I've  made  a 
good  many  better-looking  rails  than  either  of  these." 
The  correspondent  who  sent  this  story  to  the  eastern 
papers  added  that  this  reply  "brought  down  the 
house."  1 

As  public  interest  began  to  turn  more  to  this  unpol 
ished  man  of  the  west  and  his  crude  though  virile  con 
stituency,  newspaper  reporters  were  sent  to  sound  the 
people  in  that  locality.  One  wrote  back  that  "  here  on 
the  shores  of  one  of  the  Upper  Lakes  and  near  the  head 
springs  of  the  Father  of  Waters,  you  catch  the  first 
breath  of  western  enthusiasm  for  '  Old  Abe.'  The 
country  has  so  long  been  accustomed  to  contemplate 
only  the  political  sections  of  '  north  and  south '  that  it 
is  slow  to  grasp  the  idea  that  there  is  a  WEST  —  that  it 
is  mighty  in  number  and  power  —  that  it  is  determined 
to  make  its  influence  felt  in  the  politics  of  the  nation." 
The  abuses  of  Buchanan's  administration  which  culmi 
nated  in  the  Covode  investigation  was  breeding  a  spirit 
of  distrust  of  professional  statesmen.  Another  corre 
spondent  wrote:  "You  eastern  men,  politicians  espe- 


1  This  story,  and  especially  the  motto  on  the  banner,  was  printed  in 
many  different  versions  in  the  eastern  papers.  The  one  given  here  is 
taken  from  the  Tribune.  The  story  as  it  reached  England  made  Lincoln 
and  Hanks  split  3000  rails  in  one  day.  See  "  A  Memoir  of  Abraham 
Lincoln,  President-elect,"  London,  1861. 


394          THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

cially,  can  hardly  realize  the  strong  hold  upon  the 
western  heart  which  can  be  gained  by  a  man  like 
Lincoln — a  pioneer  as  well  as  a  statesman;  a  great 
man,  and  yet  a  simple  and  unostentatious  dweller  on 
the  prairie  like  the  rest  of  us." 

No  doubt,  in  the  light  of  later  events,  the  Seward 
people  deplored  the  holding  of  the  Republican  national 
convention  in  Chicago  —  the  enemy's  country.  But 
the  western  people  were  ever  ready  to  reply  that  the 
party  had  really  been  organized  by  them  before  it  was 
taken  up  in  the  east.  No  convention  had  ever  been 
held  so  far  from  the  Atlantic  coast.  Political  power 
had  drifted  westward  unperceived.  Of  the  eight  men 
who  made  a  showing  on  the  first  ballot  of  the  conven 
tion,  five  came  from  west  of  the  Alleghany  Mountains. 
In  finesse  the  westerners  soon  showed  themselves  the 
equal  of  their  more  trained  opponents.  The  "  shouters," 
whom  the  Seward  men  had  brought  along,  took  posses 
sion  of  the  great  "wigwam"  the  first  day,1  but  while 
they  were  serenading  their  candidate  that  night,  the 
Lincoln  supporters,  headed  by  a  strong-voiced  captain 
of  a  lake  steamer,  packed  the  galleries  and  did  the 
shouting  on  the  day  it  was  most  effective.  Correspond 
ents  wrote  that  "  the  Chicago  mob "  did  the  loudest 
shouting,  although  the  Seward  people  started  it. 

On  the  third  ballot  the  convention  was  stampeded 
for  Lincoln,  and  the  man  on  the  roof  of  the  "  wigwam," 
who  was  hauling  up  by  a  string  the  results  of  the  voting 
and  throwing  the  papers  down  to  the  crowd  in  the  street, 

1  This  was  a  large  temporary  frame  structure  on  Lake  street,  near  the 
river.  It  was  decorated  for  the  occasion  by  the  women  of  Chicago.  Its 
site  is  now  occupied  by  a  business  block. 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN'  395 

was  able  to  announce  that  "  Old  Uncle  Abe  "  had  the 
prize.  The  roar  of  the  crowd  and  the  boom  of  cannon 
started  a  campaign  of  noise  if  not  of  education.  Rati 
fication  meetings  were  held  all  through  the  Mississippi 
valley,  at  which  "  rails,  wedges,  and  ox-goads,  ten  feet 
high,"  were  to  be  seen.  Some  young  men  desiring  to 
protect  their  shoulders  and  heads  from  the  dripping 
of  their  torches,  made  capes  and  caps  of  oilcloth,  and 
this  "  Wide  Awake  "  organization  was  imitated  every- 


LINCOLN  AS  GREELEY'S  MAN 

where.  Rails  were  carried  on  the  shoulders  of  men, 
and  mounted  flatboats  were  drawn  through  the  streets. 
It  was  said  in  the  western  vernacular  that  Lincoln 
would  "  spread  like  wildfire  over  the  prairies,"  and  that 
he  would  "  sweep  the  northwest  like  a  herd  of  buffalo." 
The  nomination  was  naturally  a  disappointment  to 
the  Seward  people.  Some  declared  that  it  was  "a  mat 
ter  of  impulse,"  " purely  an  accident,"  and  "decided 
more  by  the  shouts  and  applause  of  the  vast  con- 


396          THE  MEN"  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

course."  l  Thnrlow  Weed,  of  the  Albany  Evening  Jour- 
nal,  shed  bitter  tears  ;  but  Greeley  wrote  to  his  paper 
that  the  Illinois  people  were  claiming  a  victory  of  the 
people  over  the  politicians.  "  It  will  be  a  campaign  of 
the  1840  stamp." 

When  a  speaker  in  the  New  York  ratification  meet 
ing  said  that  "if  we  had  had  a  choice  we  would  have 
preferred  the  great  statesman  from  New  York,"  he  was 
greeted  with  "prolonged  applause."  Yet  he  begged 
the  audience  to  allow  the  Lethean  stream  to  flow  over 
their  disappointments  and  blot  them  out  forever.  Most 
of  the  speakers,  according  to  even  Republican  papers, 
were  "lugubrious  in  spirits."  When  the  Brooklyn 
"  wigwam "  was  dedicated,  a  speaker  thought  it  "  a 
deplorable  lesson  of  the  Chicago  convention  that  a  man 
who  had  adhered  his  life  long  to  a  principle,  which  prin 
ciple  built  up  the  party,  should  have  his  throat  cut  from 
ear  to  ear  by  that  party."  At  Albany,  "very  many 
were  heartsick  at  the  result  of  the  nomination."  Ac 
cording  to  the  Tribune  correspondent  in  Washington, 
the  keynotes  of  the  ratification  meeting  at  that  place 
were  "disappointment"  and  "acquiescence."  In  Pitts- 
burg,  Seward's  defeat  was  "sadly  received,"  but  "all 
deferred  to  the  wisdom  of  the  Convention."  The  New 
York  Herald  thought  the  Democratic  party,  if  it  could 
get  together,  would  "sweep  the  country,  through  advan 
tage  given  it  by  the  Chicago  philosophers."  2 

1  Henry  J.  Raymond,  in  the  New  York  Times,  said,  "  The  arrangements 
for  the  convention  were  in  the  hands  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  friends,  and  they 
had  been  made  with  special  reference  to  securing  the  largest  possible  con 
course  of  his  immediate  neighbors  and  political  supporters." 

2  A  campaign  "  Life  "  was  a  necessity.     The  official  one  of  Lincoln 
could  not  describe  the  national  and  diplomatic  positions  he  had  held,  but 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 


397 


A  Philadelphia  editor  asked:  "Why  should  Lincoln 
be  President  ?     He  has  no  record.     He  is  unknown  in 


LIFI  AND  PUBLIC  SERVICES 


!!  HON.  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 


I 


Congress.  His  coarse  style  was  seen  in  the  Lincoln- 
Douglas  debate.  He  is  only  a  flatboatman  and  a  rail- 
splitter  ;  a  county  court  lawyer  and  a  ready  stump 
speaker."  A  Democratic  paper  characterized  him  as 
"  a  third-rate,  slang-whanging  lawyer,  possessing  no 

had  to  be  satisfied  with  describing  how  he  had  once  been  kicked  by  a 
horse,  had  shot  a  wild  turkey,  and  had  kept  a  store  which  "  winked  "  out. 
It  was  humiliating  to  the  eastern  Republicans. 


398          THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

proper  qualification  but  as  Old  Abe  Lincoln,  Old  Uncle 
Abe,  Honest  Old  Abe,  and  people  are  expected  to 
accept  nicknames  instead  of  fitness." 

Among  some  of  the  eastern  Republican  papers,  there 
was  at  first  a  ludicrous  attempt  to  improve  this  product 
of  the  western  plains.  One  tried  to  find  a  good  family 
tree  for  him  ;  to  show  that  he  came  originally  of  aristo 
cratic  blood.  Under  a  headline,  "  Good  Blood,"  one 
article  traced  his  family  to  the  Lincoln s  of  Hingham, 
Massachusetts,  "who  came  over  in  1637."  "He  un 
doubtedly  came  of  this  parentage,  since  he  has  the  same 
qualifications  as  the  New  Englanders."  Editors  in  the 
middle  states  claimed  that  he  was  descended  from  the 
Lincolns  of  Virginia,  who  had  formerly  been  residents 
of  Chester,  Pennsylvania.  Greeley  said  that  "  some 
fastidious  gentlemen  appear  to  be  a  good  deal  disturbed 
at  the  presentation  made  of  the  Republican  candidate 
for  the  presidency  as  having  once  been  a  rail-splitter"  ; 
but  that  it  proved  the  possibilities  of  America,  since  a 
man  emanating  from  the  class  called  mud-sills  should 
have  risen  so  high. 

After  the  convention  had  adjourned,  many  of  the 
delegates  from  the  older  states  paid  a  visit  to  Spring 
field  to  see  this  man  whom  accident,  as  they  supposed, 
had  placed  upon  their  ticket.  They  departed  saying  that 
they  would  trust  his  honest  face  anywhere.  Reporters 
in  the  governor's  office  in  the  State  House  described 
the  crowds,1  which  had  come  from  Chicago  "to  see  the 
elephant."  Some  of  the  Ohio  delegates  brought  back 
with  them  a  rail,  "one  of  the  3000  split  by  old  Abe." 

1  Owing  to  the  courtesy  of  the  governor  of  Illinois,  Lincoln  received  the 
delegations  in  the  governor's  office  instead  of  his  own  rather  limited  home. 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN  399 

When  the  nominating  committee  arrived,  there  was 
manifest  a  certain  lack  of  reverence  for  the  prairie 
candidate,  together  with  some  apprehension  for  the 
conventionalities  of  the  occasion.  The  speaker  who 
introduced  the  delegates  was  reported  in  the  eastern 
papers  as  saying,  "  Come  up,  gentlemen  ;  it's  nobody 
but  Old  Abe  Lincoln."  One  of  the  number  said  after 
ward  that  he  was  afraid  lest  he  should  meet  "  a  gigantic 
rail-splitter  with  the  manners  of  a  flatboatman  and  the 
ugliest  face  in  creation  "  ;  but  he  added,  "  he's  a  com 
plete  gentleman." 

On  this  occasion,  the  neighbors,  with  true  western  hos 
pitality,  brought  in  refreshments  of  various  kinds,  but 
Lincoln  sent  them  away  and  regaled  his  visitors  with  ice 
water.  One  newspaper  correspondent  described  Mrs. 
Lincoln  ;  "standing  beside  her  almost  gigantic  husband, 
she  appears  almost  petite,  but  is  really  about  the  average 
height  of  ladies."  Another  assured  the  public  that  she 
was  " presentable." 

It  was  the  fate  of  this  isolated  environment  to  make 
a  man  raised  in  it  misunderstood  by  those  of  his  con 
temporaries  who  had  not  experienced  its  peculiar  forma 
tive  influences.  It  is  the  natural  inclination  of  each 
man  to  judge  others  by  his  own  standard.  Few  who 
looked  for  the  new  leader  imagined  that  he  would  come 
from  beyond  the  mountains  ;  fewer  yet  that  he  would 
come  from  a  lower  class  of  society,  but  little  removed 
from  the  "poor  white"  of  the  south.  If  competition 
with  slavery  caused  that  class,  it  was  especially  retribu 
tive  that  the  system  itself  should  breed  the  man  under 
whom  it  was  destroyed. 

It  is  easy  now  in  retrospect  to  laud  Lincoln,  and  place 


400 


THE  MEAT  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 


him  upon  a  pedestal  as  the  foreordained  agency  to  smite 
the  shackles  from  the  slave  ;  but  it  is  harder  to  trace  the 
causes  which  made  him  the  agency  and  still  more  diffi 
cult  to  realize  how  much  misunderstood  he  was  at  the 
time.  Much  of  his  campaign  was  taken  up,  not  in  prov 
ing  that  he  was  the  friend  of  the  slave,  but  that  he  was 
not  an  Abolitionist,1  had  never  favored  the  political 


"THE  NIGGER  IN  THE  WOODPILE" 

equality  of  the  black  and  the  white,  and  had  never 
declared  for  emancipation  even  in  the  District  of 
Columbia  save  with  compensation  to  the  owner.  As 
a  border  man  he  had  seen  the  evils  of  the  system,  but 
he  was  a  lawyer  believing  in  preventive  legislation  for 
the  future  and  not  retroactive  legislation  for  the  past. 
Of  southern  descent,  he  believed  in  the  right  of  property 

JTwo    of  the   many  cartoons   representing    Lincoln    and    Greeley  as 
Abolitionists  are  reproduced  on  this  and  a  preceding  page. 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN"  401 

and  home  rule  —  the  two  principles  for  which  the  south 
was  contending.  As  a  northern  resident  he  believed  in 
liberty  and  equality  —  the  principles  for  which  the  north 
was  contending. 

During  the  campaign,  to  every  delegation  which  came 
to  beg  a  promise  that  he  would  not  interfere  with  slavery 
in  the  states,  he  insisted  that  his  words  at  no  time  could 
have  given  alarm  to  the  southern  people ;  that  as  a 
northern  man  he  had  always  been  known  to  be  opposed 
to  the  system ;  that  as  President  he  would  enforce  the 
laws  ;  and  if  any  power  could  be  found  in  the  Constitu 
tion  or  the  laws,  enabling  him  to  interfere  with  slavery 
in  the  states,  he  would  do  so.  He  knew  full  well  that 
no  such  power  existed.  Even  after  his  election,  he 
wrote  to  Alexander  Hamilton  Stevens,  whom  he  had 
known  in  Congress :  "  Is  it  possible  that  the  South 
entertains  fears  that  a  Republican  administration  would 
directly  or  indirectly  interfere  with  their  slaves-  or  with 
them  about  their  slaves  ?  The  South  would  be  in  no 
more  danger  in  this  respect  than  it  was  in  the  days  of 
Washington." 

Perhaps  no  President-elect  had  ever  been  seen  by  so 
few  people  at  large  as  Abraham  Lincoln.  This  may 
explain  the  extended  system  of  invitation  arranged  by 
the  Republicans  to  have  Lincoln  pass  through  the  prin 
cipal  northern  cities  on  his  way  to  be  inaugurated. 
Such  a  post-election  tour  was  indeed  a  novelty.  Or  the 
purpose  may  have  been  to  counteract  secession  and  to 
create  additional  supporters  for  the  coming  administra 
tion.  Attempt  was  made  to  have  Bates,  of  Missouri, 
and  others  join  the  "grand  cavalcade."  No  one  can 
believe  that  the  initiation  of  this  visionary  project  lay 

2  D 


402 


THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 


with  the  plain  man  ostensibly  at  the  head  of  it,  but 
rather  that  he  was  in  the  hands  of  his  friends.  Noth 
ing  could  possibly  come  of  it.  The  President  dared  not 
commit  himself  in  his  speeches.  Lacking  the  gift  of 
saying  nothing  gracefully,  he  was  obliged  to  mouth 
commonplaces  which  satisfied  no  one.  If  he  tried  to 
brighten  up  these  compulsory  speeches  with  some  of 


his  subtle  wit  or  naive  jokes,  they  fell  harshly  on  the 
ears  of  men  deeply  oppressed  by  the  solemnity  of  the 
times. 

No  indignity  was  offered  the  party,  but  there  was  a 
sneering  tone  in  all  the  eastern  papers  reporting  the 
progress  of  this  wild  west  caravan.  "  Old  Abe  kissed 
by  a  Pretty  Girl  "  was  a  poor  headline  to  add  dignity  to 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN"  403 

a  President,  even  if  it  appeared  in  a  Republican  news 
paper.1  "  Simple  Susan  "  was  the  nickname  for  the 
rail-splitter  in  other  papers.  Northern  cartoonists  pic 
tured  him  supporting  the  dignity  of  his  office  on  the 
point  of  bayonets  or  as  a  hunter  recoiling  from  his  first 
shot  at  the  bird  Confederacy.  The  New  York  City 
committee  of  reception,  boarding  his  train  at  Albany, 
tarried  at  one  end  of  the  car  and  viewed  with  aristo 
cratic  horror  Mrs.  Lincoln  adjusting  the  President's  tie 
and  *'  fixing  him  up  a  little  bit."  They,  like  others, 
saw  the  exterior  man  only.  They  could  not  go  beneath 
the  surface.  They  did  not  realize,  as  is  now  seen  in 
retrospect,  that  Nature  had  departed  from  her  usual 
form  and  had  reverted  to  a  rudimentary  type  near  to 
her  own  likeness.2  They  contrasted  him  in  his  manners 
and  appearance  with  the  polished  Seward,  who  would 
have  adorned  this  great  office. 

New  York  City  received  him  in  "  a  sulky  unbroken 
silence,  such  as  never  before  characterized  so  great 
a  New  York  crowd."  The  same  witness,3  standing 


1  The  New  York  Tribune,  February  18,  1861.  This  incident  of  Grace 
Bedell,  which  occurred  at  Westfield,  Indiana,  was  indicative  of  the  great 
heart  in  a  homely  man,  who  could  not  be  made  unnatural  by  being  chosen 
President. 

2  "Nature,  they  say,  doth  dote, 
And  cannot  make  a  man 
Save  on  some  worn-out  plan, 
Repeating  us  by  rote : 

For  him  her  Old  World  moulds  aside  she  threw, 
And,  choosing  sweet  clay  from  the  breast 
Of  the  unexhausted  West, 
With  stuff  untainted  shaped  a  hero  new." 

—  LOWELL,  Commemoration  Ode. 

8  Walt  Whitman,  the  poet,  himself  a  resident  of  that  city. 


404         THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

amidst  the  enormous  crowd  opposite  the  Astor  House 
when  the  distinguished  guest  arrived,  saw  a  tall  figure 
which  "  step'd  leisurely  out  of  the  centre  of  these 
barouches,  paus'd  leisurely  on  the  sidewalk,  look'd  up 
at  the  granite  walls  and  looming  architecture  of  the 
grand  old  hotel,  —  then,  after  a  relieving  stretch  of 
arms  and  legs,  turn'd  round  for  over  a  minute  to  slowly 
and  good-humoredly  scan  the  appearance  of  the  vast 
and  silent  crowd."  Walt  Whitman  feared  to  hear  at  any 
moment  the  crack  of  the  assassin's  pistol,  or,  escaping 
that,  some  marked  insult  or  indignity.  "  For  he  pos 
sessed  no  personal  popularity  at  all  in  New  York  City 
and  very  little  political."  The  whole  reception  was 
just  such  a  "  dash  of  comedy  as  Shakspere  puts  in  his 
blackest  tragedy." 

The  culmination  of  this  most  unfortunate  trip  occurred 
at  Harrisburg,  when  the  President-elect,  yielding  again 
to  the  persuasion  of  his  friends,  abandoned  the  tour  and 
slipped  into  Washington  by  night.  Even  the  replacing 
of  his  high  hat  by  a  comfortable  soft  felt  was  sufficient 
ground  for  the  story  that  he  went  in  disguise.  Fate 
was  trying  to  show  in  his  true  light  this  uncouth  noble 
man  whom  she  had  brought  forward  for  the  great  task  ; 
but,  to  the  people,  Fate  seemed  trying  to  humble  their 
pride  still  further  by  fresh  evidences  of  his  crudity.  For 
tunately,  becoming  President  could  not  spoil  Lincoln. 
The  White  House  was  to  him  a  place  of  residence  — 
nothing  more.  A  reception  was  simply  a  meeting  with 
friends.  But  one  may  imagine  the  consternation  of  his 
forced  supporters  and  the  delight  of  his  enemies  when 
the  story  was  freely  circulated  that  at  his  first  reception 
he  came  into  the  drawing-room  holding  Mrs.  Lincoln 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 


405 


IKef/fAef, 


by  the  hand    and,    to   relieve  the  situation,  remarked, 
"  Here  come  the  long  and  short  of  it." 

After  the  inauguration,  the  eastern  statesmen,  whom 
he  had  taken  into  his  cabinet  for  the  sake  of  party  har 
mony,  slowly  awoke 
to  the  fact  that  Lin 
coln  was  the  Presi 
dent.  It  seemed 
incredible  that  this 
untrained  man,  who 
opened  cabinet  ses 
sions  with  readings 
from  wretched  "com 
ic  "  papers  of  the  day, 
and  who  interlarded 
the  gravest  discus 
sions  with  his  back 
woods  stories,  could 
safely  guide  the  gov 
ernment  without 
their  dictation.  Only 
in  the  later  light 
may  one  see  how  this  dallying  man  was  saving  the 
Union. 

If  Lincoln  had  yielded  to  Greeley  and  other  hotbloods 
and  declared  emancipation  under  war  powers  before  he 
had  exhausted  his  civil  powers,  he  would  have  destroyed 
the  little  law-abiding  sense  preserved  through  an  aggra 
vating  civil  war.  His  border  training  had  taught  him 
caution  and  patience.  Few  civil  wars,  if  any,  have  been 
followed  by  so  little  punishment  inflicted  upon  the  van 
quished  by  the  victors.  No  forfeitures  of  life  or  even 


MR.  READY-TO-HALT 


406         THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

liberty  for  any  time,  few  forfeitures  of  estates  and  those 
with  due  compensation,  no  working  of  treason  or  at 
tainder  of  blood,  marked  the  close  of  the  contest.  The 
sense  of  law,  order,  and  fairness  had  been  preserved  by 
the  deliberate  movements  of  the  President. 

If  Lincoln  had  closed  the  war  by  compromise,  as  so 
many  begged  that  he  would  do,  the  Union  would  have 
been  impaired,  and  slavery,  the  basic  cause  of  the  con 
flict,  would  have  remained.  But  the  borderer  had  never 
learned  to  compromise ;  that  was  left  to  the  professional 
statesman.  Nature,  the  standing  enemy  of  the  fron 
tiersman,  neither  gives  nor  takes  quarter,  and  that  was 
the  school  in  which  this  unprofessional  statesman  had 
been  taught. 

If  at  any  time  Lincoln  had  met  any  representative  of 
the  Confederacy,  as  he  was  frequently  urged  to  do,  he 
would  have  recognized  the  existence  of  another  govern 
ment  within  the  territory  occupied  by  the  United  States, 
and  the  Union  could  never  have  regained  its  dignity  and 
supremacy.  But  his  sound  judgment  and  tact,  trained 
by  experience  for  emergencies,  gave  back  the  central 
government  as  pure  and  uncompromised  as  when  it  was 
entrusted  to  his  hands. 

Frequent  disappointment  and  long  delays  taught  the 
backwoodsman  patience.  Generations  before,  the  fron 
tier  of  Virginia  had  taught  a  soldier  the  same  lesson  of 
retreat  and  waiting.  Washington,  the  wealthy  and  high 
born  Virginian,  would  not  have  expressed  it  as  did  this 
first  great  typical  American,  "  I  never  cross  the  Sanga- 
mon  until  I  come  to  it  "  ;  but  the  principle  was  the  same. 
In  floating  down  the  Mississippi,  Lincoln  had  found  it 
sufficient  to  meet  the  obstacles  of  each  day ;  as  President, 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN  407 

he  never  anticipated  the  problems  of  the  next  day  or  the 
next  year.  In  this  he  furnishes  a  striking  contrast  to 
his  successor. 

Therefore,  during  the  progress  of  the  war,  Lincoln 
never  troubled  himself  with  the  question  of  how  the 
Union  was  to  be  restored  when  the  war  should  be  closed  ; 
how  the  taint  of  secession  was  to  be  wiped  out ;  what 
should  be  done  with  the  leaders  of  the  fallen  enterprise ; 
what  the  status  of  the  freedman  should  be.  Although  a 
lover  of  the  law,  he  had  little  toleration  for  its  sophis 
tries  and  its  mazes.  He  would  apply  to  legal  questions 
the  simple  tests  of  his  early  life  and  say,  "  This  is  right." 
His  simple  nature,  unprejudiced  by  class  distinctions, 
would  have  exercised  its  accustomed  charity  toward  a 
vanquished  foe.  His  sympathy  as  a  borderer,  a  curse 
to  him  during  the  war,  would  have  been  a  blessing  after 
its  close.  Years  before,  he  had  said  of  the  southern 
people :  "  If  slavery  did  not  now  exist  among  them, 
they  would  not  introduce  it.  If  it  did  now  exist  among 
us,  we  should  not  instantly  give  it  up." 

To  say  that  had  Lincoln  lived,  the  country  might  have 
been  spared  the  dark  period  of  reconstruction,1  is  specu 
lation.  Yet  such  a  conclusion  is  forced  by  his  simple 
words  on  this  subject  spoken  to  a  serenading  party  on 
the  night  after  the  fall  of  Richmond  and  but  three  days 


1  During  the  years  following  the  close  of  the  Civil  War,  while  the 
southern  people,  starved  into  submission,  but  unconvinced  that  they  were 
wrong,  were  trying  to  adjust  their  new  relations  with  the  freedmen,  many 
northern  statesmen  believed  that  they  could  be  brought  back  to  their 
personal  and  commercial  relations  by  the  force  which  had  been  employed 
in  restoring  their  political  relations.  To  this  unfortunate  period  the  term 
"  reconstruction  "  is  applied.  It  may  be  said  to  have  ended  with  the  final 
withdrawal  of  the  Federal  troops  in  1877. 


408          THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION 

before  his  death.  For  four  years,  Congress  had  been 
anticipating  this  question  of  reconstructing  the  Union 
and  had  been  splitting  hairs  over  words.  Lincoln  said 
that  whether  the  states  had  been  out  of  the  Union  or 
not  was  merely  a ''pernicious  abstraction."  "We  are 
all  agreed  that  the  seceded  States,  so  called,  are  out  of 


LINCOLN'S  LAST  RECEPTION 

their  proper  practical  relations  with  the  Union,  and  that 
the  sole  object  of  the  government,  civil  and  military,  in 
regard  to  those  States,  is  to  again  get  them  into  that 
proper  practical  relation."  Nothing  could  be  simpler. 

Walt  Whitman,  who  had  become  a  hospital  nurse  in 
Washington,  thought  he  saw  something  new  in  Lincoln's 
face  as  the  long  war  days  drew  to  a  close.  "  It  was  that 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 


409 


new  virtue  unknown  to  other  lands,  and  hardly  yet  really 
known  here  —  Unionism."  At  his  last  reception,1  Whit 
man  saw  Lincoln  "dressed  all  in  black,  with  white  kid 
gloves  and  a  claw-hammer  coat,  receiving,  as  in  duty 
bound,  shaking  hands,  looking  very  disconsolate  and  as 
if  he  would  give  anything  to  be  somewhere  else."  A 
few  weeks  later,  Whitman  felt  "  as  if  the  world  had  come 
to  an  end  "  when  he  heard  in  the  early  dawn  the  news 
boys  crying  the  assassination  of  the  President.  A  few 


THE  PRESIDENT  IS  DEAD! 

WAR   DEPARTMENT, 

Washington,  April  15,  1865.  | 

To  Mil  GEN.  DIX, 

Abraham  Lincoln  died  this 
morning  at  22  minutes  after 
Seven  o'clock 

E.MST ANTON  Sec  of  War, 


hours  more  and  the  dead  walls  were  placarded  with  the 
black-bordered  bulletins  of  the  Secretary  of  War  an 
nouncing  the  end. 

All  the  mysticism  of  the  border  and  of  Lincoln's  early 
life  seemed  to  appear  as  the  end  drew  nigh.  Premoni 
tions  in  this  man  of  destiny  cannot  be  satisfactorily  dis 
missed  as  creations  of  a  disordered  intellect.  As  well 


1  The  illustration  of  Lincoln's  last  reception  reproduced  on  the  opposite 
page  is  taken  from  an  old  lithograph  in  the  Library  of  Congress, 


410          THE  MEN  WHOiMADE  THE  NATION 

might  one  attempt  to  assign  Lincoln's  recourse  to  read 
ing  Scripture  prophecy  and  mysteries  to  the  same  cause. 
He  is  not  to  be  judged  by  ordinary  rules.  Few  men 
would  have  dared  to  describe  to  a  cabinet  the  vision  of 
his  own  death,  even  if  he  thought  he  had  seen  it.  Few 
would  have  ventured  to  predict  a  military  victory  solely 
on  the  recurrence  of  a  former  dream  of  a  vessel  coming 
into  a  harbor  in  full  sail.  To  Whitman's  poetic  mind, 
the  interpretation  of  the  dream  was  otherwise.  The 
precious  ship  of  the  Union  had  been  saved  ;  she  was 
even  now  entering  the  port  amidst  the  rejoicing  of  the 
people ;  but  —  the  captain  of  the  vessel  lay  dead  upon 
the  deck. 

"  The  ship  is  anchor'd  safe  and  sound,  its  voyage  closed  and  done, 
From  fearful  trip  the  victor  ship  comes  in  with  object  won  ; 
Exult  O  shores,  and  ring  O  bells  ! 

But  I  with  mournful  tread, 
Walk  the  deck  my  Captain  lies, 
Fallen  cold  and  dead." 


INDEX 


ABOLITION  reform,  358-368,  382,  400. 

Adams,  John,  quoted,  3,  55,  80,  127 ; 
and  Samuel  Adams,  61 ;  delegate  to 
First  Continental  Congress,  77,  84- 
104;  on  commander-in-chief,  no; 
on  Independence,  111-118;  chosen 
Vice-President,  186-188 ;  becomes 
President,  215;  war  measures  of, 
223 ;  on  election  of  1800,  228  ;  retires 
to  his  farm,  230. 

Adams,  John  Quincy,  266,  272,  284, 
288-294,  310. 

Adams,  Samuel,  the  father  of,  49 ; 
appears  in  Boston  town  meeting, 
50-53 ;  suggests  committees  of  cor 
respondence,  51  ;  on  the  Boston 
Massacre,  56-60;  attracts  others  to 
the  patriot  cause,  61-64;  a  pro 
scribed  rebel,  63  ;  and  the  tea  party, 
64-69;  and  the  Port  Bill,  69-76;  a 
delegate  to  the  Continental  Congress, 
77,  84,  94-100;  welcomes  President 
Washington,  203. 

Albany  Congress,  18. 

Alexandria  commissioners,  154. 

Alien  and  Sedition  laws,  220-223. 

Allen,  Ethan,  12. 

"  American  system,"  264-266. 

Annapolis  Convention,  155-157. 

Articles  of  Confederation,  formed,  137- 
139;  financial  troubles  of,  139-150; 
commercial  difficulties  under,  151- 
154- 

BANK,  Jackson  on  the,  298-301. 
Birney,  James  G.,  365. 
Birthday,  Jefferson's,  celebration,  302- 
306. 


Boston,  Massacre,  56-60;  Tea  Party, 
64-69;  Port  Bill,  69-76;  visit  of 
President  Jackson,  307-315. 

Braddock's  expedition,  257. 

Brown,  Henry  Box,  364,  365. 

Burns,  Anthony,  367. 

Burr,  Aaron,  in  election  of  1800,  225; 
organizes  an  expedition  into  the 
southwest,  241-243. 

CALHOUN,  John  C.,  302-305,  321,  325, 
328,  332,  338,  354,  378. 

Canals  as  public  improvements,  278. 

Capital  of  the  United  States,  178,  207. 

Charters,  colonial,  11-15. 

Clay,  Henry,  early  life  of,  259-263 ;  in 
the  Senate,  263 ;  evolves  his  Ameri 
can  system,  264-266;  and  the  Cum 
berland  Road,  266;  on  the  War  of 
1812;  267-270;  and  the  Maysville 
Road,  273;  as  a  presidential  candi 
date,  274-281,  284 ;  a  traveller  on  the 
Cumberland  Road,  276 ;  as  Secretary 
of  State,  285 ;  Compromise  of  1833, 
307;  Compromise  of  1850, 338;  death 
°f,  375«  378  ;  as  a  frontiersman,  384. 

"Coffin  handbills,"  291. 

Colonial  discord,  1-15. 

Colonists,  isolation  of  the,  255. 

Commissioners,  Virginia  and  Mary 
land,  154. 

Committees  of  Correspondence,  51, 
72. 

Compromise  of  1850,  335-345. 

Concord  and  Lexington,  105-108. 

Congress,  a,  suggested,  72,  77. 

Congress,  First  Continental,  72-104; 
Connecticut  delegates  to,  86. 


411 


4I2 


INDEX 


Congress,  financial  troubles  of,  119- 
123,  127-136,  139-150;  calls  a  con 
vention,  157. 

Congress,  Second  Continental,  108- 
iii. 

Constitution  of  the  United  States 
framed,  157-172;  adopted,  173-180. 

Continental  money,  119-123;  127-136, 
140. 

Convention,  Annapolis,  155-157. 

Convention,  Constitutional,  157-172. 

Convention,  national  nominating,  287. 

"  Critical  period,"  the,  148. 

Crockett,  David,  279,  316. 

Cumberland  national  road,  266,  271, 
276. 

DEANE,  Silas,  86,  127-132. 
Debates  of  Lincoln  and  Douglas,  389. 
Declaration  of  Independence,  113-118. 
Dickinson,  John,  54,  80,  81,  102,  137, 

157- 

Douglas,  Stephen  A.,  379-384. 
Duche,  Rev.,  95-99. 

ELECTION,  of  1800,  224-229 ;  of  1824, 
283;  of  1852,  344,  374;  of  1840, 

349- 

Embargo  of  1808,  246-251. 
England  and  impressment,  244-246. 
English  predominance  in  the  colonies, 

14-17. 

"  Era  of  good  feeling,"  283. 
Established  Church,  2-7,  259. 
Examination  of  Franklin,  29. 

FEDERAL  Hall,  New  York  City,  185. 

Federalist  party,  formed,  174;  rash 
actions  of,  220-224 1  oppose  election 
of  Jefferson,  226;  death  of,  319. 

"  Federalist,  The,"  176. 

First  Continental  Congress,  called,  72- 
78 ;  delegates  to,  79-92  ;  action  of, 
92-101 ;  entertainment  of,  101-104. 

Fitch,  John,  166. 

Foote's  resolution,  321. 

France,  aids  America,  127-132 ;  war 
fever  against,  222;  and  the  Missis 
sippi  valley,  256. 


Franklin,  Benjamin,  third  trip  to 
England,  i ;  efforts  for  union,  17 ; 
and  the  Stamp  Act,  23-32 ;  examina 
tion  of,  29;  on  Parliamentary  cor 
ruption,  33 ;  on  the  navigation  laws, 
36;  daily  life  in  England,  40-44; 
and  the  Hutchinson  letters,  42-45; 
returns  to  Philadelphia,  45 ;  secures 
aid  from  France,  127-132;  in  the 
Constitutional  Convention,  163-172. 

Frontier,  the  American,  255-259,  383- 
387. 

Fugitive  slaves,  335-342,  368-370,  373. 

GALLATIN,  Albert,  234,  236,  239-241, 
244-251. 

Garrison,  William  Lloyd,  341,  359-368. 

Graham,  Dr.,  reforms  of,  351. 

Greeley,  Horace,  on  Clay,  255;  early 
career  of,  348 ;  in  the  campaign  of 
1840,349;  founds  the  Tribune,  350; 
as  a  social  reformer,  351 ;  in  Con 
gress,  352-358 ;  and  the  Abolition 
reform,  358-366;  and  the  Fugitive 
Slave  law,  368-370 ;  on  "  Uncle  Tom's 
Cabin,"  371-374;  and  the  election 
of  1852,  374-377 ;  handwriting  of, 
376 ;  effects  of  his  labors,  377  ;  quoted, 
382;  and  Lincoln,  391-398,  405. 

Grenville,  George,  19-26. 

"  HALF  horse  and  half  alligator,"  290. 

Hamilton,  Alexander,  an  aide,  135 ; 
delegate  to  Annapolis  Convention, 
155-157 ;  delegate  to  Philadelphia 
Convention,  161-171;  and  "The 
Federalist,"  176;  in  the  New  York 
State  Convention,  177-180  ;  made 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  202 ;  his 
reports,  207  ;  head  of  party,  211 ;  on 
the  implied  powers,  219. 

Hancock,  John,  62,  109,  179,  204. 

Harvard  College  and  President  Jack 
son,  315. 

Hayne,  Robert  Y.,  302,  323-332. 

Henry,  Patrick,  2,  90,  104. 

Hughes,  stamp  agent,  26. 

Hutchinson  letters,  42-45. 


INDEX 


413 


IMPRESSMENT   of  American  sailors, 

244-246. 

Improvements,  internal,  255-281. 
Inauguration,  of  Washington,  195;  of 

Jefferson,  230 ;  of  Jackson,  294-296. 
Independence,  growth  of  sentiment  for, 

111-113;    declared,  114;    committee 

on  declaration  of,  112,  114-116. 
Internal  improvements,  255-281. 

JACKSON,  Andrew,  on  internal  im 
provements,  274;  in  the  election  of 
1824,  284-286;  in  the  election  of 
1828,  286-294 !  journey  to  Washing 
ton,  294;  inauguration,  295-297  ;  and 
office-seekers,  297;  as  a  foe  to  the 
bank,  298-301 ;  and  Jefferson's  birth 
day  celebration,  302-304  ;  and  nulli 
fication,  304-306 ;  tour  to  New  Eng 
land,  306-316;  contribution  to  the 
Union,  317;  and  Clay's  "American 
system,"  323. 

Jackson,  Mrs.  Rachel,  attacks  upon, 
291-294. 

Jefferson,  Thomas,  writes  Declaration 
of  Independence,  113-118  ;  becomes 
Secretary  of  State,  202  ;  head  of 
party,  211 ;  rallies  people  against  the 
Federalists,  220-224;  elected  Presi 
dent,  224-229  ;  inaugurated,  229-232 ; 
and  the  offices,  232-235;  economic 
plans,  235  ;  purchases  Louisiana, 
236-240;  and  the  navy,  240;  and 
Burr's  expedition,  241-243;  on  im 
pressment,  244;  tries  an  embargo, 
246-251 ;  retires  to  Monticello,  252- 
254;  birthday  celebration,  302-306; 
as  a  frontiersman,  384. 

KANSAS  and  Nebraska,  380,  383. 
Kentucky,  beginnings  of,  257-259 ;  Lex 
ington,  261. 

LEXINGTON  and  Concord,  105-108. 

Lincoln,  Abraham,  and  mileage  reform, 
354,  356;  on  the  Kansas-Nebraska 
Bill,  383;  as  a  frontier  product,  383- 
387 ;  and  the  new  Republican  party, 
387-389 ;  as  a  prospective  candidate, 


389-393 ;  nominated,  394 ;  and  Sew- 
ard,  395-398 ;  campaign  of,  399-401 ; 
en  route  to  Washington,  402-405 ; 
efforts  for  the  Union,  405-407;  on 
reconstruction,  408  ;  death  of,  409. 

Log-cabin  campaign,  349. 

"  Log-rolling,"  272. 

Louisiana,  purchase  of,  236-240. 

Lovejoy,  Elijah  P.,  360. 

Lowell,  James  Russell,  338,  375,  403. 

Loyalists,  treatment  of,  143-146. 

Lundy,  Benjamin,  359. 

MADISON,  James,  4,  153,  154-158,  168, 
175,  176,  233. 

Marshall,  Christopher,  117;  diary  of, 
46. 

Massachusetts,  Colonial  Church  in,  3, 
4  ;  delegates  to  First  Continental 
Congress,  84-86. 

Maysville  Road,  273. 

Mileage  reform,  Greeley  on,  353-355. 

Missouri  Compromise  line,  380. 

Morris,  Robert,  early  career,  124-126 ; 
efforts  in  Philadelphia,  133-136;  as 
financier,  139-141 ;  as  a  friend  of 
Washington,  149 ;  misfortunes  of, 
150;  nominates  Washington  in  the 
Constitutional  Convention,  164. 

NAVIGATION  Acts,  35-37. 

Nebraska  and  Kansas,  380-383. 

New  Hampshire  delegates  to  First  Con 
tinental  Congress,  83. 

Newspapers,  and  the  Stamp  Act,  27 ; 
early  history,  of,  347. 

New  York,  on  Port  Bill,  72;  delegates 
to  First  Continental  Congress,  91; 
commercial  troubles  of,  152 ;  adopts 
the  Constitution,  177;  Lincoln  in, 

39°.  403- 
Non-importation,  Associations  of,  52- 

54- 

North,  Lord,  61,  64,  65,  131. 
Nullification,  302-307,  331. 

"PARLEY,    Peter,"    on    the    railroad, 

279. 
Pennsylvania,  race    differences,    7-9; 


414 


INDEX 


charter  of,  13 ;  delegates  to  First  Con 
tinental  Congress,  81 ;  ratifies  the 
Constitution,  173. 

Personal  liberty  laws,  370. 

"  Pet  banks,"  300. 

Philadelphia,  on  Port  Bill,  72 ;  Sons  of 
Liberty  of,  79-81 ;  First  Continental 
Congress  at,  79-104;  second  Con 
gress  at,  108-111;  captured  by  the 
British,  132-136;  entertains  the  Con 
stitutional  Convention,  165;  as  the 
capital,  209;  visit  of  President  Jack 
son,  308-310. 

Phillips,  Wendell,  342,  343,  359. 

Port  Bill,  Boston,  69-76. 

Potomac  navigation  commissioners, 
154- 

RACE  prejudices,  7-9. 

Railroads,  beginnings  of,  278-280. 

Reconstruction,  period  of,  408. 

Religious  persecution,  3-7. 

Removals  from  office  under  Jefferson, 
232-235. 

Republican  party,  the,  377,  387-389. 

Revere,  Paul,  68,  71,  105. 

Rhode  Island  delegates  to  First  Conti 
nental  Congress,  87 ;  not  represented 
in  the  Philadelphia  Convention,  156, 
159- 

SERVANTS,  indentured,  9-11. 

Seward,  William  H.,  390-398. 

Shays's  Rebellion,  160. 

Smuggling,  colonial,  20-22. 

Sons  of  Liberty,  54-56;  of  Philadel 
phia,  79-81. 

South  Carolina  delegates  to  First  Con 
tinental  Congress,  81-83. 

Spoils  system,  Jefferson  and,  232-235; 
Jackson  and,  296-298;  Greeley  on 
the,  352. 

Spotswood,  Governor,  256. 

"  Squatter  sovereignty,"  381. 

Stamp  Act,  23-32,  37. 

States  rights  and  the  Union,  218. 

Stowe,  Harriet  Beecher,  371-374. 

Suffolk  resolutions,  99. 

Suffrage  extension,  287. 


TARIFF,  the  first,  199;   of  1832,  302; 

South  Carolina  on,  302-307. 
Taxation  of  America,  19-41. 
Tea  and  the  American  colonies,  64-69. 
Thomson,  Charles,  79-81,  93,  94,  186, 

188. 

Tories,  treatment  of,  143-146. 
Town  meeting,  the,  47-49. 
Townshend,  Charles,  38-40,  61,  64. 
Troops  in  Boston,  56-60. 

"  UNCLE  TOM'S  CABIN,"  371-374. 

Union,  beginnings  of  the,  14-19,  98, 
101 ;  Morris's  efforts  for,  139 ;  Ham 
ilton  and  the,  169;  Washington's 
services  for  the,  214,  318;  Jefferson 
and  the,  224,  254;  Clay's  contribu 
tion  to  the,  255,  281 ;  Jackson  on  the, 
317;  the  silent  growth  of  the,  318- 
320;  and  the  states,  321 ;  in  danger 
in  1850,  338 ;  Webster's  contribution 
to,  346. 

VIRGINIA  and   Kentucky  resolutions, 

220-223,  SOS- 
Virginia,  Colonial  Church  in,  2-7 ;  dele 
gates  to  First  Continental  Congress, 
88-91 ;  adopts  the  Constitution,  175 ; 
and  the  Ohio  valley,  256-259. 

WAR,  Revolutionary,  105-149;  with 
France  in  1798,  223;  of  1812,  267- 
270,  282 ;  with  Mexico,  332. 

Washington,  George,  delegate  to  First 
Continental  Congress,  89, 102;  made 
commander-in-chief,  no;  quoted, 
in;  faith  in  the  government,  149; 
entertains  Potomac  commissioners, 
154 ;  at  the  Constitutional  Conven 
tion,  162-172;  suggested  for  the 
Presidency,  178 ;  accepts  the  Presi 
dency,  181-186;  journey  to  New 
York,  188-195 ;  inauguration  of,  195- 
197;  administration  of,  197-216; 
journey  to  New  England,  203;  po 
litical  attacks  upon,  210-215;  expe 
dition  to  the  Ohio,  257 ;  and  Lincoln, 
406. 


INDEX 


415 


Waterways  as  means  of  communica 
tion,  255. 

Webster,  Daniel,  on  Clay's"  American 
system,"  323;  debate  with  Hayne, 
324-331;  political  career  of,  333; 
reputation  as  an  orator,  334;  on 
slavery,  335;  on  the  Fugitive  Slave 
Act,  338;  Seventh  of  March  speech, 
339-343 ;  and  the  Convention  of  1852, 
344;  as  an  independent  candidate, 


345 ;  contribution  to  the  Union,  346; 

and  Abolitionists,  361 ;  on  Webster, 

368  ;  death  of,  375,  378. 
Webster,  Noah,  167,  215. 
Whig  party,  327,  375. 
Whitman,  Walt,  403-410. 
Whittier,  John  Greenleaf,  318,  342. 
Wilderness  Road,  257. 
Writs  of  assistance,  21. 


History  of  the  United  States 

FROM   THE   COMPROMISE   OF  1850 

By  JAMES  FORD  RHODES 
Four  Volumes.    Cloth.     8vo.    Each  $2.50 


"  One  of  the  most  important  historical  efforts  of  the  present  generation,  and  it 
is  gratifying  to  know  from  a  careful  examination  that  he  is  thoroughly  equipped 
for  his  responsible  task,  and  is  certain  to  present  to  the  country  and  the  world 
a  standard  history  of  the  most  important  era  of  modern  civilization."  —  The 
Times,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

"  The  first  volume  begins  with  the  passage  of  the  Compromise  Measures  of 
1850,  and  ends  with  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise  in  1854.  The 
second  volume  deals  with  the  stirring  political  events  which  transpired  from  the 
repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise,  through  all  the  Kansas  and  Nebraska 
struggles  to  the  organization  of  the  Republican  party,  and  its  final  national  tri 
umph  by  the  election  of  Mr.  Lincoln  in  1860.  Two  more  volumes  give  the 
political  history  of  the  Civil  War,  and  of  the  several  administrations  succeed 
ing  Lincoln  until  the  restoration  of  Democratic  rule  by  the  election  of  Cleveland 
in  1884." —  The  Times,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

"It  is  the  one  work  now  within  reach  of  the  young  American  student  of 
to-day  in  which  he  may  iearn  the  connected  story  of  the  great  battle  that 
resulted  in  the  overthrow  of  slavery  and  the  rededication  of  the  republic  to 
unsullied  freedom.  In  no  other  publication  are  these  facts  so  concisely,  so 
fully,  and  so  well  presented,  and  the  student  who  makes  careful  study  of  this 
work  will  fully  understand,  not  only  the  actual  causes  which  led  to  the  war,  but 
he  will  know  how  gradually  they  were  developed  from  year  to  year  under  vary 
ing  political  power,  until  the  nation  was  ripe  for  the  revolution.  .  .  .  Taking 
the  work  altogether,  we  regard  it  as  the  most  valuable  political  publication  of 
the  age,  and  the  intelligent  citizen  who  does  not  become  its  careful  student 
must  do  himself  great  injustice." —  The  Times,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

"  This  is  the  best  all-around  history  of  this  period  which  has  yet  appeared."  — 
The  Public  Ledger,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

"  The  interest  of  the  reader  is  sure  to  grow  as  he  turns  the  pages,  and  it  is 
safe  to  say  that  the  stirring  history  of  the  period  has  not  been  told  in  a  more 
forcible  and  vivid  way." —  The  Dial. 

"  Fair  and  careful,  it  rests  on  abundant  information  and  laborious  study,  .  .  . 
and  it  is  hardly  exposed  to  the  risk  of  supersession." —  The  Speaker,  London. 

"  His  impartiality,  too,  is  really  judicial,  and  never  results  from  missing  or 
underrating  the  greatness  of  the  issues  wherewith  he  is  dealing."  —  The  Saturday 
Review,  London. 


THE    MACMILLAN    COMPANY 

66  FIFTH  AVENUE,   NEW  YORK 


THE  UNITED  STATES 

AN   OUTLINE   OF    POLITICAL    HISTORY,    1492-1871 

By  GOLDWIN  SMITH,  D.C.L. 
Third  Edition.    With  Hap.    Crown  8vo.    $2.00 


"  His  survey  of  events  is  luminous,  his  estimate  of  character  is  singularly  keen 
and  just,  and  his  style  is  at  once  incisive,  dignified,  and  scholarly.  .  .  .  No  one 
who  takes  up  Mr.  Goldwin  Smith's  volume  will  readily  lay  it  down  before  he 
has  finished  it;  no  one  will  lay  it  down  without  acknowledging  the  rare  gifts  of 
the  writer."  —  The  Times. 

"  Is  a  literary  masterpiece,  as  readable  as  a  novel,  remarkable  for  its  com 
pression  without  dryness,  and  its  brilliancy  without  any  rhetorical  effort  or  dis 
play.  What  American  could,  with  so  broad  a  grasp  and  so  perfect  a  style,  have 
rehearsed  our  political  history  from  Columbus  to  Grant  in  three  hundred  duo 
decimo  pages  of  open  type,  or  would  have  manifested  greater  candor  in  his 
judgment  of  men  and  events  in  a  period  of  four  centuries  ?  It  is  enough  to  say 
that  no  one  before  Mr.  Smith  has  attempted  the  feat,  and  that  he  has  the  field 
to  himself."—  The  Nation. 

"  It  is  a  marvel  of  condensation  and  lucidity.  In  no  other  book  is  the  same 
field  covered  so  succinctly  and  so  well.  Of  the  five  chapters,  the  first  deals  with 
the  Colonial  epoch,  the  second  with  the  Revolutionary  period,  the  third  and 
fourth  review  the  history  of  the  Federal  Government  to  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil 
War,  and  the  fifth  depicts  the  era  of  rupture  and  reconstruction.  We  have 
marked  certain  passages  for  extract;  but  the  truth  is  that  almost  every  page  is 
enriched  with  striking  comments  that  cause  the  reader  to  carefully  reconsider, 
if  not  to  change,  his  views  of  historical  persons  and  events."  —New  York  Sun. 

"To  say  that  nothing  comparable  with  this  most  instructive  and  enchanting 
volume  has  hitherto  come  from  Professor  Smith's  pen,  would,  perhaps,  be  only 
anticipating  the  judgment  of  its  readers."  —  Toronto  Mail. 

"  As  a  whole,  has  a  comprehensiveness  of  view  and  a  ready  grasp  of  leading 
tendencies  that  should  make  it  particularly  useful  to  the  busy  man  who  desires 
a  rapid  survey  of  American  political  history.  By  deliberately  neglecting  details, 
Professor  Smith  has  been  able  to  fasten  the  attention  upon  salient  points,  and 
to  concentrate  interest  around  the  career  of  the  great  leaders  in  our  political 
development."  — Boston  Beacon. 

"  No  pen  has  ever  been  more  eloquent  than  his  in  setting  forth  the  merits  of 
Washington,  and  Hamilton,  and  Webster,  and  Lincoln,  and  others  of  America's 
great  citizens.  The  chapters  on  '  Democracy  and  Slavery '  and  '  Rupture  and 
Reconstruction '  deserve  thoughtful  perusal  by  every  American,  North  and 
South."  —  Public  Opinion. 


THE    MACMILLAN    COMPANY 

66  FIFTH   AVENUE,   NEW   YORK 


THIS   BOOK   IS   DUE  ON   THE   LAST  DATE 
STAMPED   BELOW 


RENEWED  BOOKS  ARE  SUBJECT  TO  IMMEDIATE 
RECALL 


MAY  7     1964 
DEC  9     1965 

DEC  6     1966 


DUE  JUN* 
JUN  2    REC'D 


LIBRARY,  UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA,  DAVIS 

Book  Slip-35m-7,'62(D296s4)458 


Sparks,  E.E. 

Men  who  made  the 


Call  Number: 


El?6 
S68 


S68 


263863 


